When We Dance
by WammygirlZ
Summary: I hope that you realize you're everything to me. I hope you know that it scares me because I've never relied on anyone else before. I hope that you understand why I can't speak sometimes when I'm around you. And I hope that I make you happy. But most of all, I hope that you feel safe when you're here with me. I hope you like it when we dance, even if I stumble a bit.
1. Burlesque

**Hey! I started a new story! XD And I plan on being pretty regular with this one, as I've actually planned out the entire plot this time rather than just making it up as I go. So, hopefully you enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I only own the plot, not the characters and I'm not making money off of this. The song is called Express and it's preformed by Christina Aguilera. Me no own! ^-^**

**-Ray (:**

* * *

I glared at Rod, pissed at him for dragging me to this fucking strip club. Mind you, it wasn't technically a strip club, it was a Burlesque club, but what's the fucking difference? Rod was my friend Takada's boyfriend. He also worked at my father's company. We weren't too close, but Takada insisted we hang out while she had a girl's night. No one in my group of friends had an issue with my homosexuality, but I think Rod still wished I was straight. Hence the club. Don't get me wrong, the girls were pretty, some of the performances were funny, and they could dance, but god damn it, I had work to do! The last dance of the night was finally starting, and I nearly cried out of relief. Rod leaned over and nudged my arm with his elbow, smirking.

"You'll like this one." He said smugly. I raised my eyebrows. _I really doubt that._ The curtain raised and the dance started with about five girls sitting on chairs, wearing skimpy clothing, and getting in revealing positions. The music started, and a nice-looking girl with long blonde hair started lip syncing.

_It's a cold and crazy world that's raging outside_

_Well baby me and all my girls are bringing on the fire_

_Show a little leg, gotta shimmy your chest_

_It's a life, it's a style, it's a need, it's Burlesque_

She leaned back in her chair, and I sighed, hoping it was a short song. They gradually changed position, standing up and swaying their hips, snapping their fingers. Another person joined them on stage, stepping in time with the snaps, also swaying their hips. But this time, I had to fight to keep my mouth from falling open.

He was the sexiest man I had ever laid eyes on. He had red hair and a long, lean torso, a cocky smile meeting his lips, a lilt to his hips as he walked. His body was clad in tight black jeans and a loose white button-up shirt that fell over one shoulder. He stared right at me as he started lip syncing.

_E-X-P-R-E-S-S._

He smiled at me, making my breath catch. God, he was gorgeous. He made a heart with his hands, then bent over suggestively, fanning himself and licking his lips.

_Love, sex_

He looked over at the girls on stage with him, smiling.

_Ladies no regrets_

He repeated the same motions as before, but ran his hands over his body rather than bend over, making me want to do the same thing to him.

_E-X-P-R-E-S-S._

_Love, sex_

_Ladies no regrets_

He stopped lip syncing, letting the girls take the last line as his started up straight afterwards. He walked into the audience, first to his right, looking around the audience.

_Been holding back for quite some time_

He grabbed a man's tie and pulled his face close, mouthing the lyrics way up close to him.

_And finally the moment's right_

He strutted to the left of the stage, twisting his body seductively, holding on to the stage and grinding against it, sinking down to the floor.

_I love to make the people stare_

_They know I got that certain savoir faire_

He walked directly up to me and ran his hands along his body again, hands resting at his hips.

_Fasten up, could you imagine what would happen if I let you close enough to_

_touch?_

He gave his ass a smack, then walked back on to the stage, joining the girls once more.

_Step into the fantasy, you'll never want to leave, baby let's give it to you_

_WHY?_

He winked at me, falling into a synchronized dance with the girls. He smiled while he danced, throwing his own personality into the dance every now and then.

_It's a passion, and emotion, it's a fashion,_

The group struck different poses, the red-head bending over with his hands crossed in front of him.

_Burlesque_

A second synchronized dance began, the boy getting closer to the edge of the stage.

_It'll move you, goin' through you, so do what I do, _

_Burlesque_

The girls stepped forward, leaving him behind.

_All ladies come put your grown up._

The redhead pushed through, some buttons of his shirt undone, his hands over his head and hips swaying.

_Boys throw it up if you want it._

I found myself grinning, quite entertained and enthralled with this dancer. He pulled his shirt off, tossing it into the audience and smirking when the crowd went crazy, giving me an excellent view of his lithe torso. There was a tattoo under his collarbone, the black ink startling in contrast to his pale skin. He touched himself again, running his hands through his hair. Holy shit, I wanted him. I didn't care how. I just wanted him.

_Can you feel me, can you feel it?_

_It's Burlesque._

There was a small dance break, and the red-head disappeared behind the girls again. When they parted, I almost died. He was on a god damn pole.

He twirled around on the pole, dipping down, the ground against it as he stood back up, his back arching, head tossed back.

_I tease 'em 'til they're on the edge._

_They screaming 'More' for more and 'More!' They beg._

He got down on the floor and crawled towards me, making me shiver at his hot, predatory gaze.

_I know it's me they come to see._

He stopped at the edge of the stage and got on his knees, running his hands up his torso to his head, where his fingers tangled in his hair.

_My pleasure brings them to their knees_

He spread his legs, then closed them quickly, standing up and backing up a bit.

_Fasten up, could you imagine what would happen if I let you close enough to touch?_

He stroked his neck, tousling his hair again, his mouth falling open in a silent moan, his eyes practically begging me to fuck him... Or be fucked by him... I didn't even care which one. The girls joined him again, crowding him.

_Step into the fantasy, you'll never want to leave, baby let's give it to you_

They struck a pose, him bending down with a hand to his mouth in shock, and all the girls except for the blonde from the beginning leaning over him, propping their head up on their hands. The blonde stood with her hands on her cheeks, looking surprised.

_WHY?_

The dance started up again, and the ginger smiled as he danced.

_It's a passion, and emotion, it's a fashion, _

_Burlesque_

_It'll move you, goin' through you, so do what I do, _

_Burlesque_

_All ladies come put your grown up, boys throw it up if you want it!_

He grinned sexily and dropped down, sticking his ass out as he stood up. He made a 'come hither' motion with his finger and then ran it down his chest, stopping at the button of his jeans.

_Can you feel me, can you feel it? It's Burlesque._

The girls joined the redhead, and there was a very sexy dance break, the delicious man looking at me the whole time.

_It's a passion, and emotion, it's a fashion, _

_Burlesque_

_It'll move you, goin' through you, so do what I do, _

_Burlesque_

The girls scattered to the edges of the stage.

_All ladies come put your grown up!_

The shirtless male approached me, stepping off stage, directing his lip syncing to me.

_Boys throw it up if you want it._

He stepped even closer, leaning over me, his hands resting on my thighs. The tattoo was a wasp done in a sharp, tribal style. His lips brushed my ear, his low voice barely audible over the music.

_Can you feel me? Can you feel it?_

He moaned as he pulled away, raking his fingers down my legs and smiling in a way that made me shiver. He worked his way back on stage, smiling at the girls as they danced around, the song coming to an end.

_It's Burlesque_

He switched between the girls, dancing with each of them.

_Burlesque_

He caught my eye and bit his lip, his hand playing with the button and zipper of his jeans.

_Burlesque_

Damn, his hips... That ass... Hell, just all of him. He was so fucking sexy...

_Burlesque_

He stood in the middle of the stage, hands on his hips, with all the girls surrounding him in sexy poses. He winked at me one more time before the curtains closed.

Hot damn.


	2. First Date

**Hey guys! :D Here's the second chapter because it might be a while before I can post again, so I thought I'd give you a little something-something to tide you over for maybe a week. ;) Enjoy!**

* * *

"What did I tell you?" Rod said smugly. I tilted my head back, legs parted, still tingling from that boy's touch. That was by far the sexiest thing I had ever experienced.

"Who the fuck was that?" I asked, internally melting, externally shooting an icy glare at Rod when he laughed. I didn't give a fuck if he was uncomfortable, that boy was fucking hot. He laughed again, more nervously this time.

"Well I don't know his name, but I could find out-" I stood up, waving him off.

"Forget it. I'll do it." I made my way to the back of the club, pushing open a door that said 'Dancers Only'. I collided with a girl who had short black hair. She touched my shoulder with one hand, her other hand full of clothes. She was wearing normal street clothes, light blue jeans and a soft pink sweater.

"Oh, sorry- whoa. Hey gorgeous," she purred, running her hand down my chest. "You lost?" I backed away from her.

"Ah- actually, I was looking for-"

"Ooh, wow Kacey, what did you find?" Another woman walked up behind me, bringing her hands around my hips.

"Excuse me, can you help me-"

"I'll help you with whatever you need, baby cakes." A blue haired girl giggled, playing with my hair.

"Hey, you two better share!" Laughed the blonde girl from before, still dressed in her costume. A few more girls joined in, crowding me, ignoring what I was trying to ask.

"Um, ladies..." A light, gravelly voice said, catching their attention. The redheaded boy looked at us through his mirror, taking off his makeup. He was dressed in regular clothes; a loose black and red striped t-shirt and white sweat pants that stopped at his knees. His tattoo was covered by his shirt. "I think that's mine." He joked, raising an eyebrow at me. I flushed, much to my surprise.

All the girls made disappointed noises and left me alone. I walked up to him, standing behind him awkwardly. He was wiping the last bit of foundation off his face.

"Can I help you, sir?" He asked, shaking his head to fix his hair. He propped his chin up on his hand, smiling at me through the mirror. I blushed even more, stuttering.

"Um, I- I just-" the redhead turned around and stood up, his face now makeup-free and even more beautiful. He brought himself close to me, resting a hand on one of my hips.

"The name's Matt." He whispered in my ear. "And I'm not a whore, just a dancer, so if that's what you're looking for, I'm sorry but I can't help you." I pulled back. He had a light Scottish accent, just enough to have that Gaelic lilt to some of his words. He was so sexy...

"What? No! I wasn't even thinking about that!" He laughed adorably and backed off, biting his lip for a second, then turning away, collecting his things.

"What were you thinking then?" He asked softly. I shuffled my feet behind him until he faced me, cocking a hip and smirking cutely.

"I was thinking maybe I could get your number?" Matt looked genuinely surprised, and I took my chance, sliding an arm around his waist. "You're gorgeous." I brought one hand up to touch his face, making him blush. "And I like you."

"You don't even know me." He murmured, grinning at me.

"No, I don't." I agreed. "But I'd like to." I caught a wisp of his hair between my fingers, examining it. He chuckled and pushed me away teasingly, rummaging through his messy vanity for a piece of paper and an eyeliner pencil. He wrote down some numbers, and then turned to face me, holding the paper out. I reached for it, and he snatched it away, holding it near his head.

"You interest me." Matt admitted. "And if I'm going to give you my number, you better not disappoint me." His tone was serious, but the small smile and glint to his eyes told me that he was just kidding... Mostly. I smiled back, my hands resting on his hips again. I ran one hand up his side and leaned in, hearing his breath catch and watching his eyes flutter.

"I'll try my best." I purred, brushing my lips against the corner of his mouth. He faltered in his act, his eyes wide and innocent-looking when I pulled away. Holy shit, he had gorgeous eyes. He caught himself, blinking a few times, and smiled cockily, handing me the paper. I smirked and took it from him, folding it in half length-ways. I took two steps away when his voice caught my attention.

"Hey." He called. I turned to face him again.

"Yeah?" I answered, watching a smile form on his face.

"I like the leather." He looked me over, biting his lip hotly. I shivered.

"Th-thanks. So, I'll- um- text you later?" I stumbled over my words again, cursing myself. He laughed quietly at my nervousness.

"You better." He whispered. "Now go back to your friend. The club is closing." He wiggled his fingers at me in a wave goodbye, before a girl approached him with a piece of clothing, tearing his attention from me. I left. Just before I exited the room, I looked back and saw him watching me. He smiled at me just before the door swung closed, one eyelid dropping in a wink.

* * *

**Unknown Number: **Hey, you.

**Matt: **Hello? Who's this?

**Unknown Number: **The leather faggot from last night ;)

**Matt: **Haha, leather faggot? Seriously? Wow, I've never had someone text me the night after I gave them my number.

**Delicious Beast: **I missed you. :')

**Matt: **I have that effect on men. ;P

**Sexy Piece Of Ass: **You certainly have that effect on me.

**Matt: **Well aren't you sweet? :3

**YUM: **I try. Hey, are you busy on Wednesday?

**Matt: **Hmm, I don't think I'm busy, no. Why?

**YUMMY: **Wanna go out somewhere? I'll buy.

**Matt: Those **are the two magic words. Where am I meeting you?

**Aww He's Buying: **I'll pick you up. Where do you live?

**Matt: **You know the big apartment building down the street from the club?

**Hot Gentleman: **Yep.

**Matt: **Apartment 23 B on the 5th floor.

**Super Hot Gentleman: **Okay! What time should I pick you up?

**Matt: **Around 6 ish? If that's okay.

**Sizzling Hot Gentleman: **That's actually so perfect. Do you like sushi?

**Matt: **That's the fish, rice and seaweed things right? I've never had it, but I'd give it a try.

**Fancy Sexy Gentleman: **Heh, yes it's that rice seaweed stuff. Okay, good. Man, now I have to wait until Wednesday to see you.

**Matt: **That's tomorrow. XD

**Adorable Gentleman: **That's a full 24 hours! :(

**Matt: **You're so cute. ^-^

**Super Cute: No**, you're definitely cuter than I am.

**Matt: **You're sweet. :3 But I have to go to work, so I'm afraid I must leave.

**Adorable Blondie: **The club opens awfully early.

**Matt: **Silly, I have three jobs. I'm a waiter at a restaurant as well, and that's where I'm going now. Oh, but before I go, what's your name? I didn't get it last night.

**Silly Blondie: **Ohh! Nice. Free food?

**Silly Blondie: **Oh, and it's Mello.

**Matt: **You betcha. ;) Oh wow, nice name.

**Matt: **I have to go, see you tomorrow!

**Mello: **Have fun. :)

* * *

"Hey." Matt greeted me as he opened the door from the apartment lobby. "Sorry, I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long." He bounced to my side, shooting me a shy smile.

"Not at all. I was expecting you to take longer." He gave me a confused look. I gestured to my face. "Makeup?" I held the main door open for him and he blushed as he stepped out, putting his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"I only wear makeup when I dance." He told me, waiting for me to step closer to him before we walked to my car. "And only foundation and eyeliner. Those lights aren't exactly flattering to my skin tone. I look like a ghost." He laughed. I smiled at him. His accent was only noticeable in some words, like; aren't, I, look and ghost, but it was _so _hot.

"As if you could find unflattering light. I could stick you in a hospital room and you'd still look like Adonis." He blushed and ducked his head to hide his face, looking at his feet.

"Oh... Thank you." He murmured. Oh my god, he was fucking cute. We arrived at my car and I pulled out my keys, unlocking the doors. Matt gasped. "Holy shite." I spun around to face him, worried.

"What? What's wrong?" Matt looked overjoyed.

"I want to hump your car." I burst out laughing. "Seriously. It's a sexy car." I patted the hood of my black Z06 Corvette.

"Yeah, she's a good girl." I opened his door for him, smiling. He blushed as he slid in, grinning. I got into the car and turned it on, blushing as Matt moaned beside me.

"Ohh, fuck yeah. That engine..." He smiled sheepishly at me. "I love cars. Mine's pretty old though." I smirked.

"I'm more into motorcycles. I have a few back at the b- at home." I slipped up, almost saying 'the base'. Like I need him knowing my family is involved in the mafia this early into our relationship. Huh, relationship. I wasn't used to that word. Relationship. Sounds nice... Formal. But nice.

"At the what? What were you going to say?" He asked curiously. I pulled out of the parking space I was in, glancing at him.

"The Batcave." He giggled.

"I call my place 'Realm of Lucifer'." I laughed, flicking my signal to turn left.

"Why?"

"Cause I'm so bloody poor, I could barely afford the place I'm in now." He stretched out in his seat, adjusting his seat belt.

"Where are you from?" I asked. "Your accent is distractingly sexy." He let out a soft laugh.

"Glascow." He said, his accent seeming thicker. "In Scotland." He added when I glanced at him.

"Ah." I made another turn, getting close to the restaurant. "That explains it."

"You can still understand me though, right? Sometimes people get confused with my accent. I try to speak clearly, to avoid it." He looked self-conscious.

"You barely have one, and besides, I like it." He smiled shyly at me, blushing.

"Really?"

"Yeah. And I can understand you just fine. People are so dumb." He laughed hesitantly. "Are you nervous?" I asked curiously, looking at him from the corner of my eye.

"Um... A little." I noticed he shrunk down into his seat. "I've never been on a date before." I smiled to myself, pulling into the small parking lot of the restaurant.

"Well don't worry." I shut the car off and turned to face him, watching him blush. "I'll do my best to make this the best night of your life." He blushed deeper and replied in a murmur,

"It's working so far." I bit my lip and rested my hand on his knee for a moment.

"I'm glad." I whispered. We looked at each other, then I got up, opening my door and walking around the car to open his door for him. I don't know what it was, but there was something about Matt that made me feel all fuzzy. I really liked him, even though we had only talked face-to-face twice. We texted non-stop though, as soon as he got off work, first thing in the morning, a bit in the afternoon, and again just before I went to pick him up.

"Opening my door for me? What a gentleman." He mused, climbing out of the car.

"Of course." I replied with a grin. We made the short trek to the restaurant in silence, Matt stumbling into me a bit. "You drunk?" I teased, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"Whoops!" He giggled. "No! I hardly ever drink." He let me keep my arm around his waist, touching my hand briefly. I opened the door for him, making him smile shyly and step out of my arm into the restaurant.

"A Scotsman who doesn't drink? I've never heard of such things." He crinkled his nose cutely, sticking his tongue out at me.

"My father used to drink." He crossed his arms loosely over his flat stomach. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt with a small rainbow on the right sleeve and dark blue skinny jeans. "I never liked it when he did. I guess you could say he was an angry drunk." I felt myself frown.

"That's awful. Did he ever... Hit you?" Matt tilted his head to the side, scratching the back of his head.

"No." I sighed in relief. "He and my mom used to fight though, and he hit her sometimes." He shrugged. "But I'm away from that now, so it doesn't matter." He rubbed his arm, looking off into the distance for a long moment. He suddenly snapped back into real life, shaking his head. He smiled at me. "Anyways, you don't want to hear about my depressing life." I smiled back at him empathetically.

"I don't mind." He stared at me for a moment, his face blank, then a soft smile and a light blush made their way to his face. Something caught his eye, and he glanced behind me, straightening up suddenly.

"Good evening. Table for two?" A bored voice asked behind me. I turned to find a cute Asian girl leaning against the counter holding all the menus and such.

"Actually, I have a reservation." She sighed.

"Alright then." She mumbled a few things under her breath in Japanese. "Who's it for?"

"Mello." I rested my arm on the edge of the counter and leaned forward, my scar within her view, smiling at her. Her eyes went wide, and she suddenly stood up straight, her mouth falling open. She bowed slightly, her voice shaking when she spoke again.

"O-of course, sir. S-sorry, I didn't recognize you." She laughed nervously. I smirked. "L-let me show you to your table." She gathered two menus and brought us to a table in the main restaurant.

"Can we maybe have something in the back? For more privacy." I asked. She nearly fell over in her haste to find another table.

"Of course! Follow me!" She pulled open a curtain to allow us into the back. Matt and I sat across from each other in a booth seat, and she placed the menus on the table. "Can I get you s-something to drink?" I looked over at Matt, who smiled charmingly at the waitress.

"I'll have an iced tea." She nodded and scribbled it down, then hesitantly faced me.

"I'll have a coke." She nodded enthusiastically as she wrote down my order, and then disappeared. Matt gave me a confused look.

"How did you get reservations in one day?"

"I have contacts with some people in this restaurant." I explained. "From work." I added when he looked more confused.

"Ohh." I picked up one of the menus and looked it over.

"So, sushi n00b." I said. "How this works is we pick what we want, look at the number beside it and write the number on this piece of paper, along with how many we want." I looked up at him, and he grinned at me. "Make sense?" I asked, smiling back at him.

"Yep." We picked out some more basic ones and Matt looked fascinated when they came to the table. "They're so pretty." He breathed, making me laugh. We ate for a bit, laughing as Matt got a hang of using chopsticks and playing footsie under the table. While we were waiting for our second round, I started asking him about his home life.

"Why did you leave Scotland?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. He looked surprised.

"No one's asked me that before." He said nervously. "Well, let's see... When I was around seventeen, I decided to come out to my parents. I had already known I was gay for years, and I was tired of hiding it. My mum didn't really have a reaction, but my father..." He stared at the table for a moment. "He kicked me out. Said no son of his would defy God in such a disgusting act of sin." He sighed. I noticed his accent got stronger as he talked. "I already knew it was going to happen. I had my things packed, all my money saved-" he must have noticed that he slipped into a heavy accent, for his eyes went wide. "Oh, sorry. Damn accent." He cleared his throat, and when he spoke, his light accent was back. "Problem was, I didn't have many friends. I didn't have anywhere to go, and in the movies, people always go to America when they want a fresh start. So I pooled my money together and hopped on a plane." He looked up at me shyly.

"Where did you go when you came here?" I asked. He bit his lip and smiled.

"I love to dance." He said wistfully, making me smile. "The normal kind too, not just... What you saw..." He rubbed the back of his head in an embarrassed way. "So I stayed here, actually, in the city. I didn't know where else to go. I got a cheap apartment, worked a few small jobs; back-up dancing and such, but I had a pretty unsteady income and my bills and diet were suffering." He sighed. "I thought I'd have to give up dancing." He rested his head on one hand, looking at me. "I got my job at the restaurant I work at. And I worked for a painfully long two months before I saw an ad for a Burlesque club in the paper while I was at a friend's house." His eyes shone. "I don't know what would have happened to me if I didn't find it." He leaned closer, his foot running up my leg under the table. "What about you?" He asked.

"What about me?" I repeated, grabbing his leg with mine. He smiled and slipped his other leg between mine, trapping my leg. We tangled our legs together, laughing.

"What's your story?" He asked, still laughing quietly. I opened my mouth to answer, but was interrupted by our waitress bringing the second round of sushi over.

"Can I get you anything else? Do you need a refill on your drink, sir?" She asked Matt, making him blush.

"Oh, uh, yes please." The lady took his glass away and he shrunk into himself, smiling at me as he reached for more sushi. I leaned forward, biting my lip.

"You're so cute." I told him. He blushed deeply, fumbling with his chopsticks and dropping the piece he had been trying to pick up into the wasabi.

"Ah, fuck it all." He mumbled, glancing up at me. "And... Thank you..." He fished his sushi out of the spicy green paste, biting his tongue in concentration.

"You know," I started, slipping my hand onto his knee under the table. His face turned bright red. "And don't take this the wrong way-" he nodded in agreement, placing his sushi on his plate and his chopsticks on the table, showing me his full attention. "You're really shy. For someone so comfortable while dancing in front of a whole bunch of strangers." He bit his lip and ducked his head, still blushing from before.

"Oh... I guess it's because dancing is different. I don't feel like me. When I dance, I'm someone else." He smiled sweetly. "Someone..." He paused, leaning his head on his hand, tugging at his hair in thought. "Predictable." He grinned. "But also unpredictable." Matt glanced at me, then blushed again. "I already know what's going to happen next, so I feel safer, but it's all new to the audience."

"You seem pretty comfortable with the girls at the club." He rolled his eyes in an affectionate way, smiling.

"They're all such weirdoes. And they're like my family." He paused, his eyebrows coming together. "But with more TMI." I burst out laughing, making him giggle cutely. Our laughter died down as the waitress set down a new drink for Matt, facing me nervously.

"Anything for you, sir?" She asked, bowing slightly.

"No, that's alright." I assured her. She nodded and left quickly. I ran my hand down Matt's knee and grabbed his leg, pulling his foot up beside me on the seat, dancing my fingers up and down his calf. He smiled at me, blushing deeper.

"You're so forward." He mumbled, still grinning. "What do you do for a living?" Matt leaned forward in interest.

"I... I work for a big family-owned company. I'm pretty high up." He nodded.

"Is it your family?"

"Uh, somewhat. My father got me into the business, but he... Passed a while ago, so I'm going to be taking his place." Matt placed his hand on mine, his eyes full of sorrow when I looked up at him.

"My condolences." He said softly. "That must be hard." _It would be, if I hadn't hated him so much._

"It's okay. I already knew it was going to happen." Matt took my hand in his, squeezing gently. He face seemed to change, looking painfully sad.

"Was he sick?" _Not in the way you're thinking of._

"I... Don't really want to talk about it." I answered honestly. I felt uneasy lying to him about the Mafia, but my 'family business' was hardly an appropriate conversation for a first date.

"Okay." Matt changed the subject smoothly, smiling at me in a reassuring way. "Do you like your job? What do you do exactly?"

"Meh, sometimes." I enjoyed the infinite chocolate, but people were _so damn stupid_! "I mostly tell people what to do, but if they're retarded enough to screw it up, then I jump in to save their asses." He laughed, intertwining our fingers.

"Did you get to go to college?" He asked out of the blue, looking at our fingers.

"I went to university, actually. I got bumped up out of my third year in high school." He looked up at me with wide eyes, dropping my hand.

"Really?" He asked disbelievingly. "Wow! You're a genius!" I laughed and looked away, embarrassed.

"N-not really, just smart." God, what was it about this guy that made me feel like I was sixteen years old again? Speaking of sixteen... Now that I could actually look at the kid, he looked really young. And I refuse to fall for jailbait. "How old are you?" He smiled shyly.

"I'm turning twenty soon."

"Really? When's your birthday?"

"February 1st." I grinned at him.

"I'm twenty, but my birthday is December 13th." I brushed my hand up his calf. "You look younger than twenty." He pouted at me.

"Yes, I know I look like a child, but that makes you the pedophile since you approached me." I burst out laughing, facepalming. "Don't laugh at me! I'll call Child Services!" I snorted.

"Oh no, not Child Services." I looked him in the eye, smiling widely. "You make me feel like I'm younger, actually." My voice came out all warm and sweet. He blushed.

"Wha? I do?" He bit his lip and peeked up at me from under his eye lashes. "Is that a good thing?"

"Oh my god! You're so freaking adorable! I can't take it!" I brought my hands to my face, hiding it from him as I blushed. "I just want to eat you all the time!" He giggled, hiding in his hair. Just add a pair of fuzzy ears and a tail, and... "You're like a puppy! I just want to cuddle you and give you treats!" I picked up a piece of sushi and put it on his plate, my voice turning into a low murmur. "Here you go, puppy! Good boy, who's a good boy?" I cooed, reaching over to ruffle his hair. He started laughing hysterically.

"You're so weird!" He choked out, barely able to breathe. We ate for a while then, joking around back and forth. He ordered mango ice cream for dessert, and I got chocolate. We left the restaurant, feeling like we were going to burst at the seams.

"God," he breathed when we got in my car. "I haven't eaten like that in years." I smiled over at him.

"I'd be glad to make you fat." I joked, poking his stomach through his coat. "You're so skinny." He laughed absently, touching his stomach.

"Hmm..." He murmured softly, looking at me. We drove in silence. I snuck a few glances at him, finding him staring at me every time.

"Do I have something on my face?" I asked, touching my cheek nervously. I suddenly felt self-conscious. Matt reached over slowly, touching my scar.

"Where did you get that?" He asked gently, brushing the backs of his fingers across the wrinkled skin. It was a weird sensation and I wasn't sure if I liked it. The scar wasn't as thick as it used to be, for it had faded slightly, but I could only half-feel his fingers. I moved my face away from his hand, pulling up to his apartment building.

"Um..." I turned off the car and faced him, undoing my seat belt. "I was in a fire when I was eighteen." He looked sad.

"Does it hurt?" He reached out to touch it again, but paused just in front of it.

"No, but it feels weird when you touch it." His hand retracted.

"Sorry." He apologized quietly, folding his hands into his lap.

"It's ugly, I know." I whispered, looking down at my lap. The burned skin had a weird bubbly look to it, and it was the gross grey-pink colour of dead skin. I felt his fingers at my chin, lightly lifting my head up. He examined me, a light blush brushing his cheekbones. He smiled finally, touching my other cheek with his other hand.

"I don't think so." He said softly. I felt myself blush, my heart skipping. Seriously! What is it about him?

"Uh, um... You should inside- I mean- It's late, so you should get inside 'cause sleepy time and beds are comfy and sleepy and I'm an idiot and I'm going to shut up." Matt laughed, making a face at me.

"Want to walk me to the door?" He asked sweetly. I stuck my tongue out at him and got out of the car, walking around it to open his door for him. We walked to the door, bumping together like two teenagers who want to hold hands but are too chicken to just go for it. He paused outside the apartment, looking up at me. His eyes were a bright, complicated green, and very beautiful. "Thanks for taking me out." He said genuinely, stepping closer. He took my hands in his, leaning forward. "Um, I'm not sure if you're allowed to kiss on a first date." He admitted, blushing brightly. I grinned.

"You're not supposed to." I answered. He visibly deflated. I leaned down and kissed his cheek, making him freeze. I lingered there, unwilling to move. "I would have kissed you, but that's against the rules. We need a second date." He laughed nervously, his breath heating my face.

"Th-that sounds nice." I let go of his hands and snaked my arms around his waist, hugging him. He leaned against my chest, nuzzling into my neck. He was just barely shorter than me, enough so that I could kiss his head without moving my head. He cleared his throat as he stepped away, taking my hands again. "Uh, so, I'll text you." He bit his lip, reaching up to place a clumsy kiss on my cheek. His cheekbone bumped against mine.

"Goodnight." I said quietly.

"Y-yeah. Goodnight." He stepped back, still holding my hands, then hesitantly let them go, looking regretful. He turned to go inside, and I stopped him just as he started opening the door.

"Wait, Matt." He turned to face me, eyes wide in confusion.

"Hm?" He hummed cutely.

"Um, do you- uh... Wanna make this a regular thing?" He smiled, mussing his hair with one hand.

"We just met a few days ago." He laughed.

"Y-yeah, but... I like you." He chuckled gently, stepping forward to grab my hand briefly.

"I'd like to make this a regular thing." He said. I grinned, blushing.

"Okay. Yeah, good. Okay." I stammered, cursing myself internally. "Night."

"Night." He laughed. Matt stepped into the apartment, unlocking the second door and turning to look at me once more, smiling and waving. I raised my hand in a wave, grinning back at him. I watched him step into the elevator, looking up at the ceiling. I touched my scarred cheek, smiling to myself.

_'I don't think so.'_


	3. Twenty Questions

**Hey kids! Wasn't that a nice break? No? Yeah, I didn't enjoy it either... :(**

**Anyways! Expect the next chapter by the end of the week! d=(´▽｀)=b**

**Here's Matt and Mello's second date! Enjoy! °˖*◝(⁰▿⁰)◜*˖° (Those are my sparkles :3) Oh and in case you haven't noticed, this story is completely AU and quite OOC.  
**

* * *

**Matt:** Hello :)

**Mello:** Well hey there. What's up?

**Matt:** I'm bored :'(

**Mello:** Oh, you poor thing. (:

**Matt:** I don't like working. My table is full of assholes and the bartender is hitting on me again. :(

**Matt: **And he's old and fat. D:

**Mello:** Heh, tell him you have a boyfriend.

**Matt:** I did! He won't leave me alone! Save meee!

**My Boyfriend:** Where's your restaurant?

**Matt:** Are you serious? XD

**He's Serious:** N e thing 4 u babes. ;P

**Matt:** Oh my god! X3 My hero. But never text like a teenage girl ever again, ever. -_-'

**Hero:** Hee hee! Tell him your boyfriend is a possessive Russian with a bad temper.

**Matt:** Ooh, sexy. ;)

**Matt:** Ew! He groped my fucking ass. Creeper. T-T

**Sexy Russian:** Tell your boss you're getting sexually harassed.

**Matt: **Can't. He's worked here for years and he's all buddy-buddy with my boss. Damn favoritism.

**Sexy Russian:** Poor puppy. We'll have to go out again to cheer you up. I'll buy again.

**Matt:** Hey, I do have some pride you know. (And I'm not talking the rainbow kind.) It's my turn to buy. Want to come over to my place and eat shitty take-out?

**Buying Again:** Ha, I would love to. :P When would you want me?

**Matt:** All the time.

**How About Right Now:** Geez, you're making me blush. ^_^; I meant to come over.

**Matt:** Uh, tonight? :)

**Sexy Russian:** I can't tonight. I'm free on Saturday though.

**Matt:** That's a better idea. Then I can clean up.

**Matt:** Oh shit, boss alert. Got to go cater to the assholes. I'll text you when my shift is done?

**Mello:** Please do. Be good ;)

**Matt:** NO! :D

**Mello:** So cute. :3

**...Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ...**

"Hello?" Matt's voice was crackly through the speaker in his apartment.

"Hey. It's me." I shuffled awkwardly as the couple behind me stared at me, waiting their turn.

"Oh! Okay, come on up." He buzzed me through, and I sped-walked away from the couple. They were making me really freaking uncomfortable.

When I got to Matt's apartment, I stood nervously in front of his door before knocking. I waited a moment, heard a thump and a muffled 'Mother fucker!', and then Matt pulled the door open, his hair messy and goggles over his eyes.

"Heh, sorry. I tripped over the fucking bench. I hate that bloody thing sometimes. Come in." I stepped into the apartment, Matt closing the door behind me. There was a small hallway with a closet where I hung my coat and placed my boots on the floor. Matt pushed me gently into the apartment, past a bench with a few burlesque magazines on it, his hands on my lower back. "This hallway always makes me claustrophobic."

"Do I get a grand tour?" I asked, humor apparent in my voice. He breathed a laugh.

"Eh, why not?"

The hallway led into a living room with a loveseat and a coffee table. No TV. There were some books piled beside the couch and under the table though. There was a black rectangular thing on the table, a toy mouse on the floor, and a calico kitten curled up on the back of the loveseat.

"Xiao, get off the couch! Jesus." He picked up the kitten and placed it on his shoulder. "So this is the living room. Uh, it's not, um, fancy or anything." He started walking, and I followed him to the kitchen, which was a small room with a sink, an oven, a microwave and two bowls on the floor, one with cat food and one with water. One of the cupboards was missing a door. It wasn't messy or dirty, in fact, it was rather clean. It was just empty. "Yeah, the kitchen is worse." He mumbled, and when he turned around he was blushing. "Uh, the bathroom and my bedroom are over there..." He picked up the kitten again from his shoulder and held it to his chest. "And this is the new kid. Found her in a box on the street. I took her to the vet a while ago and she's healthy." He scratched behind her ear affectionately. "I was going to sell her, but she's so damn cute. Plus, she's a good girl and she's already fixed." I smiled and scratched under her chin.

"Hello." I greeted her. She mewed in acknowledgment. We laughed. "She's kinda small to be fixed, isn't she?"

"She's a runt." Matt placed her on the table and she pounced off of it, landing on the mouse. She hugged it with all four legs and laid on her back. "Weirdo." Matt chided gently, flopping onto the loveseat. I sat down beside him, moving my legs onto his lap. He looked over at me and I touched his goggles, fingering the strap in his bright red hair.

"I have two questions." I informed him.

"Shoot." He laughed.

"Why the goggles? You weren't wearing them the last time we went out." He pulled them off, letting them hang around his neck.

"I don't like my eyes." He said, making a face. I was surprised.

"What!? Why not?" He shifted around uncomfortably.

"Just don't." He mumbled. "They make me look like a girl." I couldn't help myself. I snorted. "Why are you laughing at me?" He sounded hurt, pouting at me.

"I look way more girlish than you do, and I don't even wear makeup!" He shoved me gently, laughing.

"I'm not wearing makeup!" I brought my head forward leaned my head against his shoulder. His breath caught. "Uh, what was your second question?" I dragged my lips up to his neck, nuzzling under his jaw with my nose.

"Do you dye your hair?" He laughed breathlessly.

"Nope. All natural." Matt let me touch his hair, pressing my mouth to his neck. I ran my fingers through the shorter hair at the back, pulling gently at the roots.

"It's so bright." I pulled back to look at him, and found him leaning his head into my hand, his eyes falling shut. "You okay?" I asked, bringing my other hand into his hair.

"Huh?" His eyes fluttered open. "I'm fine. That feels really good though." I tilted my head to the side.

"What does? Touching your hair?" I ran my hands through his hair again, watching his eyes shut and a shiver run through him.

"Yeah." He said softly, his tone making my stomach twist. I rubbed behind his ear tenderly, the fingers of my other hand brushing the nape of his neck.

"What do you do for entertainment?" I asked, playing with the ends of his hair. Matt opened his eyes again, giving me a hot, hazy look.

"Why? Am I boring you?" I smiled.

"No." He perked up suddenly, shaking the hot look from his eyes and taking my hands out of his hair, crossing his legs and facing me.

"I have an idea." He held my hands, tugging me to get me to face him properly. I draped my legs over his knees, my heels touching his lower back.

"Okay, what is it?" I admit I was intrigued.

"Twenty questions." He continued before I could interrupt, leaning forward out of excitement. "I want to know you. And we talked mostly about me the other day." He pouted adorably, giving me the biggest puppy eyes I've ever seen.

"Holy shit, you're cute." I laughed, leaning forward to touch my forehead to his. "Ugh, okay fine. But if I'm not comfortable answering a question, can I skip it?" He nodded excitedly.

"Of course. Okay, let's see..." He narrowed his eyes in concentration. "What's your favourite childhood memory?" I smiled slowly.

"Oh, god." I laughed. "Hmm... Oh, I know." This was one thing I didn't have to lie about, at least. "Alright, I was maybe five or six at the time, and I got this battery-powered car for my birthday. It was made of plastic, and none of the buttons did anything, but it was the coolest thing I owned." Matt laughed softly. "I was obsessed with it; rode it everywhere I went, drew pictures of it and everything. Anyways, I was driving around our driveway outside the house, when this dog got loose across the street. I wanted to help catch it, so I started driving my car across the street to help, but I was distracted so I didn't notice the real car coming towards me." Matt gasped, a worried look clouding his features. "And right before the car hit me, my mom came out of nowhere and grabbed me out of my car. She fell over onto the sidewalk, and I started bawling. But she saved my life." Matt tilted his head to the side, giving me a cutely confused look. "What's wrong?"

"That's your _best _childhood memory?" I looked down at our hands, squeezing his fingers.

"She died a month after that. It's my most vivid memory of her." I glanced up at him and found him nodding. He smiled at me.

"Fair enough." He was quiet for a moment, thinking. Suddenly, a wide, goofy smile spread across his face. "If you were a waiter, and you were serving a rude customer, would you spit in their food?" I made a face.

"Probably not. I've never been a waiter though. There must be a line that gets crossed. Have you ever spat in someone's food?" He grinned evilly.

"Never fuck with someone who's handling your food." I leaned back, pretending to be disturbed. "Anywho!" He beamed at me in an innocent way. "If you could have dinner with any three people from any time, who would it be and why?"

"Umm... Oh! Tom Chaplin, from Keane. He's sexy as fuck and sings like an angel." Matt laughed, looking surprised. "Alfred Pennyworth, from Batman. That man's a fucking badass. And Robert Downey Jr, so I can seduce the pants off of him."

"Oh my god!" Matt said while laughing. "I didn't think you'd know the band Keane."

"They're brilliant." Matt moved closer to me, playing with my hands.

"Um... What kind of music do you like?" I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the right side of his neck, (My right) making him tilt his head to the side.

"Anything really, except for country. But I think I prefer rock and metal." Matt laughed, then sighed lightly as I nibbled between his neck and shoulder.

"Why am I not surprised?" A low moan left his lips as my tongue traced the bites I left behind. "F-favourite colour?" He managed to get out, one hand resting on my shoulder as I leaned forward to kiss along his collarbone, pulling the neckline of his shirt to the side so I could have access to more skin.

"Black." I answered against his shoulder.

"Tha-that's not a c-colour. Mello, stop. I'm trying to talk." His complaint was broken by giggles at the end, making me smile against his skin.

"You're doing great so far. And green." He whined in distaste, but didn't say anything as I made my way across his collarbone to his other shoulder, merely tilting his head the other way.

"Um... Mm, that feels nice." My mouth had worked up to his jaw line, and was moving towards his ear. "Y-your first time... What was their name?" I tugged lightly at Matt's earlobe with my teeth, pausing to think.

"Hmm, I can't remember." Matt pulled back to look at me, giving me a disbelieving look.

"Really? Well, what did they look like?" I bit my lip as I thought back, pressing one more kiss to Matt's neck before straightening up.

"It was a boy. I think he was a few years older than me. I was sixteen. He had short brown hair, like this," I motioned with my right hand around my head, then took his hands again, intertwining our fingers. "And... Brown eyes?" I paused to think. "I wasn't really looking at his eyes." Matt blushed. "I was kind of a slut when I was younger." I admitted. "I was a bit of an attention whore, and I liked the power. I slept with a few people, mostly to get a reaction out of my dad." I sighed, looking at our hands in my lap. "I wish I hadn't though. I would have liked to be able to have something... Special." I turned bright red, feeling awkward suddenly. "Ugh, that sounds like something a teenage girl would say." Matt laughed softly.

"That's okay." He leaned down hesitantly, softly pecking my burnt shoulder. I shuffled uncomfortably. Matt let go of my left hand, touching the scarred left side of my face gently.

"Matt..."

"What's your favourite part of yourself?" He asked, using the same hand as before to stroke the normal side of my face with his knuckles, making me blush. "And if you say your dick, I'll sack you." He deadpanned, dropping his hand onto my leg. I laughed loudly, the tension being broken.

"I think..." I paused, tugging at a lock of my hair. "I think my stomach. Just- this area." I motioned around my torso. "Or this half of my face." I covered my scar, and lifted our intertwined right hands to touch my face. Matt pulled my hand away, showing my scar.

"Why not _all_ of your face? You're beautiful." I blushed wildly, making Matt smile. I made an uncomfortable noise and looked away, letting Matt lean his head against my shoulder. He pulled me closer, until I was sitting in his lap, and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"What would you do if I told you you're not supposed to touch the person you're with on the second date?" I asked out of curiosity. Matt looked up at me with horror and confusion in his eyes.

"You're not!? But-" I laughed and slung my arms around his neck.

"I'm kidding, don't worry." Matt made a distressed sound and leaned his head against my chest.

"Can we split the questions? So I have ten and you have ten?" I chuckled and played with his hair.

"Sure." He nuzzled against my chest.

"I have one more left then. Okay..." His hands rested on my hips, making me shiver. "Hm... Oh, do you have any siblings?"

"Nope, I'm an only child. I wish I did though. I wish I had an older brother." I paused. "Or an older sister. I don't discriminate." _As long as they could take my place..._ Matt smiled and leaned back against the couch, releasing my hips.

"Okay, I'm satisfied with your answer. Your turn." I smirked and moved to sit beside him on the couch, my lower back leaning against the arm rest with my legs crossed.

"Do _you_ have any siblings?" I asked, tugging at a lock of my hair. Matt nodded, a sad smile spreading across his face.

"Yeah... A younger sister. Her name's Erin." He laughed softly. "She'd be... Seventeen right now, but she'll be eighteen soon. She's awesome; you'd love her." He looked at his lap for a moment, smiling, but not saying anything. "She's..." He sighed, looking horribly sad all of the sudden. "Yeah, anyways. Continue." We sat in silence, Matt glancing up at me and offering me a shy smile.

"Why does talking about your sister make you so sad?" His smile slipped away, and he looked away, biting his lip.

"I... I don't feel comfortable... Answering that question right now." His voice got steadily quieter until I could barely hear him. "Maybe later on?" I nodded in agreement.

"Okay. Um, so what's your favourite movie?" Matt brightened up, looking back at me with an adorable smile on his face.

"Tarzan!" I almost pissed myself laughing.

"Really!?" He giggled.

"Why yes." I shook my head, smiling.

"Okay then. Who was _your_ first time and what did they look like? And that's one question, by the way." I smirked. "It can take the place of the one you didn't answer." He snorted cutely, pulling his knees to his chest.

"His name was Oliver." He said, drawing circles on his knee in a cute, nervous way. "He was my boyfriend in high school, but we were keeping it a secret. His parents didn't approve of homosexuality either." I nodded in an understanding way. "He had longish dark brown hair and brown eyes. He was fairly handsome." He paused for a moment, chewing his lip. "It wasn't... Well, it wasn't my idea. He wanted to. And it didn't exactly feel good." He grimaced at the memory. "But it was still sex, so it still counts." He sighed. "I agree with you." My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"About what?" He grinned sheepishly at me.

"I wish I could have had something special too, or at least pleasurable." He crinkled his nose slightly, hiding behind his knees. "I've never told anyone about this before." I smiled genuinely at him.

"Well that makes me feel special. Careful, or I might get a big head." He giggled lightly, tilting his head to the side and smiling at me while I continued interrogating him. "And the 'about what' didn't count as a question." He nodded in agreement. "Okay, so when did you get into dancing?" Immediately, his entire entity seemed to change. The boy in front of me looked unfamiliar. He was excited and endlessly happy; full of life. He sat up straighter and crossed his legs, his body language open and fearless.

"We took Erin to see a ballet when we were younger." He started. "I was six and she was four. And _oh_, Mello..." His expression turned to one of bliss, making me smile. He leaned forward to grab my arm, moving close to me again. "It was so beautiful. I can't remember exactly, of course, but I remember that it was _wonderful_." He closed his eyes for a second, smiling. "They looked so free. And I wanted to feel that way too. I started dancing at home, mostly to entertain Erin, but Mum said I was a natural. I started lessons at a local rec center, where it was free so Mum didn't have to worry about that." He exhaled dryly, laughing slightly. "Shit, it was hard work- ballet is strenuous- but it was worth it." I laughed happily at his expression. He seemed more relaxed after talking about dancing. His smile had my heart doing back flips. _What is it about him that has me feeling like this?_

"What kinds of dancing can you do?" He blushed, scratching at his knee.

"Well, a bit of everything I guess, but I don't do ballet as much anymore. I don't have the muscle for it. Mostly, I do contemporary, which is really stereotypical of me, but I find it's the most expressive; and I'm flexible enough to do it." He laughed. "I used to do a lot though: Ballroom, hip hop, jazz and acro." He scrunched his nose. "I sound like an arse, don't I? I'm really not that good." I rolled my eyes.

"You're being modest." I insisted. I really wanted to see him dance. "Do you have any allergies?" He smiled sheepishly, scratching behind his head.

"Well, I'm ginger, so I'm pretty much allergic to the sun... Unless I swim in a pool of sun block beforehand." I laughed, and he smiled at me. "Naw, I'm just joshing with you. No, I don't have any allergies." I moved closer to him, leaning forward a bit.

"How long do we date each other before I can call you pet names?" Matt blushed, and looked down, playing with his fingers.

"Oh, um... However long you want to, I guess." I smiled and scooted closer so our knees were touching.

"Expect it soon, then." I purred. He giggled shyly, reaching out to touch my knee. I placed my hand over his and intertwined our fingers, kissing his hand gently. He went bright red. "How many boyfriends have you had in your life?" I asked, kissing the second knuckle of his index finger. He smiled.

"Four, including you. One in primary school, one in third year, one who I broke up with a few months ago, and now you."

"I thought you dated that guy Oliver in high school?" I was confused. "And that doesn't count as a question." Matt nodded.

"We didn't have sex until we were sixteen though."

"You were dating him since you were ten!?" Matt snorted and burst out laughing.

"NO!" He laughed for a long time, making me feel embarrassed. "I'd be fourteen in third year! You're thinking American school years." He shook his head in an amused way. "Silly American." He joked. I pouted, and he squeezed my hand.

"Okay, last question. Does my accent make me sound stupid?" He laughed again, but shook his head.

"No, you're fine." He giggled lightly, shifting closer until I pulled him into my lap. He slung his arms around my neck loosely. "I feel very comfortable with you." He admitted. I felt myself blush.

"I feel comfortable with you, too." Matt smirked and climbed off of me, scooping his cat up with one hand on his way to the kitchen.

"What would you like for dinner? We have Chinese, Thai, Italian or another Chinese/Japanese place." I followed Matt into the kitchen, looking through his cabinets for a glass.

"Whatever you're in the mood for." I replied, finally locating a cup and getting some water from his tap. He stood with one hand on his hip, looking at the menus held onto his fridge with various magnets. His cat was in his other hand, rubbing against his chin and neck affectionately. I placed my glass in the sink when I was done drinking, leaning against the sink to watch Matt. He sighed and pulled a menu off the fridge, setting it on the counter along with his cat and pulling out his cell phone.

"Thai it is." He said just loud enough for me to hear. I squeezed his hip as I passed him on my way to the living room, picking up his cat as I passed.

"Sounds good." I murmured, holding the cat in front of me with two hands and letting her lick my nose. "Ugh, cat tongue." I complained, tucking her against my chest as I sat down. Matt laughed from the kitchen, leaning against the doorway and smiling at me. I grinned innocently and made a face as Xiao rubbed against my cheek. Matt smiled and was about to say something when his attention was pulled to the phone he was holding.

"Oh, yes I'd like to place an order..." He paused for a moment, biting his lip, and then rolled his eyes. "Yes, that's fine." He stepped back into the kitchen. "Hey, Mello." He called. I got up off the couch and joined him, coming up behind him and resting my head on his shoulder. "What do you want?" He reached behind him to touch my head. "I'm on hold, so you have a while."

"I don't care. I'm not picky." I watched him circle a few things, pausing as if waiting for any objection. He had good taste.

"Yeah, I'm here." Matt said into his phone. He listed the things he circled, then thanked the guy on the phone. He hung up and turned to face me, making me freeze as those eyes met mine. "You only asked me nine questions." Matt said gently, leaning against his counter. I smiled.

"Yeah. I'm saving my last one for later." He gave me a suspicious look, then pushed against my stomach to walk into his living room.

We talked about video games while we waited for our food. Apparently, Matt adored them, but had to leave his consoles behind when he came to America. He had stolen his DS from his ex. I laughed for four minutes straight when he told me his reason: revenge.

"He was a total arse." He told me as an explanation, but wouldn't comment further. "And it's a good distraction when I'm bored." Our conversation was interrupted by the arrival of food. Matt went down to get our order, blowing me a teasing kiss as he slinked out the door. I felt myself blush, and made a face at Xiao when I turned around to find her staring at me.

"What do you want?" I asked her. She, of course, didn't answer. What with being a cat and all. I sat on the couch and she climbed onto my lap, rubbing her head against my chest.

"You know," I started speaking quietly, petting Xiao's head. "I didn't believe in love at first sight. I thought it was stupid. Superficial." I scratched behind the small cat's ear. "And to be honest, the first time I saw Matt, _love_ wasn't really on my mind, but..." I grinned to myself. "But I really like him. So get used to me being here. And talking to you." I paused, staring at the cat's wide green eyes. "I'm talking to a cat. Wow. That's a new all-time-low for me." Xiao mewed in displeasure when I stopped petting her. "Sorry." I mumbled, resuming my stroking. _And now I'm apologizing. What the fuck has gotten into me?_ Just then, Matt walked in with a huge bag of take-out, the door swinging shut behind him. He kicked off his shoes, smiling at Xiao and I, and moved into the kitchen. I put the cat on the ground and followed him, my stomach growling.

* * *

I ran my hand over the bald patch on top of my head, sighing to myself. My blue eyes followed my hand as I pulled at a lock of hair, gently enough so that it wouldn't pull out. The picture I sent him last week was old. He would be upset if he knew my hair was starting to fall out again; he always loved to braid it. When it grew back after the first time it fell out, he used to braid it all the time to hide the small patches where it didn't quite grow back right. He knew all different kinds of braids. Fishtail braids, Reverse braids, French braids, Inside-out French braids, Dutch braids, Double braids, Four-strand braids, Five-strand braids... He could do it all. He could never do it with his own, so I let him do it with mine. It killed me though, knowing that he'd probably never be able to do it again. I'd be bald again soon enough. And after that, who knows how long I'll have left?

It's funny how the smallest things in life were the ones you miss the most.

It was just hair. That's what all the doctors told me the first time, and I cried. That's what they told me when I woke up to chunks of my soft hair staying behind on my pillow. Now that I had gotten used to it, I could agree with them. It was never a question of vanity.

I knew he wouldn't really care how I looked. He always told me that I was beautiful. But it was just another sign that I'm on my last life. That I'm running out of time.

That thought alone could kill me, if I wasn't already dying.

* * *

"I kissed a girl once." Matt choked on his glass of juice, his eyes widening comically.

"WHAT?" I practically rofl'd, handing him a napkin to wipe his mouth with. "_That's_ the grossest thing you've ever done?" He asked when he recovered. We had started up another game of twenty questions, sitting on his living room floor and eating Thai food.

"Yep. I had her pretend to be my date before I came out to my dad. I kissed her to make it seem more real. She had a fuck-load of lip gloss on." I made a face. "It was nasty." Matt wrinkled his nose cutely.

"Ew. Well that's the end of my questions." He leaned back against his couch, his arms spreading above his head and back arching as he stretched. "What would you like to do now?" He asked, staring at me innocently and playing with his fingers. _Fuck, he's so cute._ I thought. I glanced down at my phone, noting the time.

"I should be getting home, actually." I sighed regretfully, getting to my feet. "We both have work tomorrow." Matt's face fell slightly, but he nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, you're right." He jumped gracefully to his feet and I helped him tidy up our dinner mess. He followed me to the front of his apartment, leaning against the wall while I got my stuff together. I opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, pausing before turning to face him. Matt leaned against the door frame, bracing himself with his right forearm pressed against the door frame above his head, and his other hand holding on to the opposite side of the frame near his hip. His legs were crossed at his shins, his right hand playing absently with his hair. He was looking up at me with those gorgeous eyes, and it was making my knees weak. I took a light breath, gathering courage to talk, and he beat me to it, tilting his head as he murmured, "You still have a question left over from before, if I remember correctly." He smirked as I smiled and stepped closer, resting a hand on one of his hips.

"You remembered correctly." I assured him. "Matt..." He tilted his head up, our breaths mingling.

"Yes?" He whispered.

"Can I kiss you?" His breath caught, and he closed his eyes with a smile. One of his hands rested on my arm.

"Are we allowed to kiss on the second date? We might need a third one." I laughed and brought one hand up to the back of his head, touching our foreheads together.

"We'll definitely have a third one." I murmured reassuringly. "But we're allowed to kiss now if you'd like. Only if you want to though." He chuckled softly, the hand on my arm flexing eagerly.

"Please kiss me." Matt whispered. I smiled and shivered lightly, tilting my head down. I pecked lightly at his mouth, blushing for no reason.

Matt's lips were the softest lips I had ever kissed. I pressed my own to them gently, parting mine slightly. Matt pulled at my arm and reached up on his toes to meld our mouths together properly, his other hand coming up to tangle in my hair. We kissed for a minute, Matt's tongue running across my bottom lip and my hand running through impossibly soft red hair. I pulled back to breathe before his tongue could slip into my mouth, gazing down at his beautiful eyes while he panted lightly.

"Wow." I breathed. Matt laughed breathlessly, tugging me close to press himself against me.

"I have to agree with you." He sighed, kissing my jaw fleetingly.

"So we're definitely having a third date. I've decided." He laughed again, making me smile. He had a wonderful, light laugh, full of joy and slightly husky.

"Oh, have you?" He giggled and pushed me away playfully. "You get to buy next time." I stepped back and bowed with a flourish of my hand, smiling up at him.

"It would be my honor." He looked away while he laughed again, blushing. I straightened up and stole another kiss from his ridiculously soft lips, touching a lock of his even softer hair. It was like silk under my fingertips. "I should be going now." I said quietly, kissing his temple.

"You should..." He agreed, placing a hand on my stomach as he turned his head to kiss me again. I returned the kiss with a peck on his cheek.

"I'll see you soon." I assured him, taking the hand he had spread out on my stomach with the one I had been using to play with his hair. "I'll call you when I get back to my place." I promised. We kissed briefly once more before I started walking down the hall, looking back at him to find Matt touching his lips, smiling adorably.

**...(ﾉ≧∀≦)ﾉ...**

I stood still for a moment, touching my mouth absently. _Mello..._

"Hot damn, Matt." I jumped as my neighbor diagonally across the hall from me spoke, leaning against her door. "It's about time. How long were you single after Mason? I go to take out the garbage and find you making out with some hottie. Who is he?" My friend Misa smiled and waggled her eyebrows at me, causing me to roll my eyes at her.

"His name's Mello." I supplied.

"One nighter or...?" She trailed off hopefully. I grinned and touched my lips again.

"I think this one's going to stay for a while."

"YAY! Matty has a new boyfriend!" She yelled happily. I rolled my eyes and went back into my apartment. Misa could be a bit annoying. I smiled to myself, scooping up my little kitty and plopping down on the couch. Being with Mello always left me with a nice fuzzy feeling. I've never had that feeling with anyone else before, so it was strange to me, but quite pleasant. Though we had only known each other for a few days, I felt really comfortable with him, and I felt drawn to him. He interested me. And it felt like he was genuinely interested in me as well. It seemed like the start of a good relationship. Hey, _relationship_. I wasn't used to that word. Relationship. Sounds nice. Formal,

But nice.


	4. Ditched!

**This one's a bit shorter than the others, sorry about that. Hopefully the next one will be longer. (:**

**Please take note that Matt and Mello's breakfast preferences do not reflect mine. Eggs are disgusting. :P**

**Another update soon, yeah? ^_^**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Matt was leaning against the brick wall of the club, his arms crossed and looking seriously pissed off. He was dressed in baggy blue, black and white plaid shorts and a tight white and black striped tank top, his goggles hanging around his neck. He had black combat boots on that stopped above his ankles, which surprised me for some reason. I pulled up at the curb and rolled my window down.

"Matt," I called. His head snapped over to look at me, and he smiled sheepishly. I watched him walk around my car and climb in beside me. He shut the door with a sigh and looked over at me while he did his seatbelt up.

"Sorry about this." He apologized, a light blush coming to his face. I reached over and squeezed his knee, dismissing his apology.

"Hey, don't worry about it. What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't rescue my damsel in distress?" I glanced over to catch Matt rolling his eyes.

"I thought you said you were the girly-looking one." He joked, moving his leg so I could spread my hand out on his thigh. "I am clearly a man, so it's impossible for me to be a damsel in distress. I'm much more a beau with bad news, and instead of a knight in shining armor, I have an androgynous in tight ass leather coming to rescue me… Where do you get those pants anyways?" His accent never failed to give me shivers, and I laughed at his comment.

"I have my ways." I purred. "And I don't look that much like a girl!" Matt laughed and leaned over to kiss my cheek.

"No, you don't. You're definitely a man, too." He giggled, which was terribly adorable, and leaned his head against my shoulder while I drove.

"As much as I love rescuing you from the delights of walking Los Angeles streets at two AM, please explain to me exactly how you got yourself into this mess." I chuckled a bit at the end of my sentence, and Matt huffed against my shoulder in annoyance.

"My friends are mean and left me behind so they could get laid." He pouted, his hand covering mine on his leg. "And we're all kind of tipsy, so I didn't really want to get in a car with them." I scrunched my nose in an apologetic manner.

"I'm sorry. If I had been able to come with you-"

"You had to work. It's not a big deal." Matt interrupted me. "I'm not that much of a brat." I rolled my eyes affectionately.

"You're not a brat. And you're also not very tipsy." I observed.

"I told you, I hardly ever drink." He pulled back to smile at me, taking my hand off his leg and placing it on the steering wheel again. "But better safe than sorry." I smiled and looked over at him when we approached a red light, laughing at his wide, innocent grin.

"So what exactly happened?" I asked, and he sighed in frustration.

Matt had invited me to go clubbing with his friends and him, but I had some important matters with the Mafia I had to attend to. With my father's sudden passing, the syndicate was rushing to find someone to fill his shoes before any of our rivals were alerted to our lack of leadership. Being the Don's son, I was obviously the first choice, but I had no interest whatsoever in the crime part of our family's business. I had always tended to the legal businesses we owned while my father took care of the backstage stuff.

The very idea of becoming the Don in my family's syndicate made my skin crawl, and I was prepared to do anything to keep myself out of that position. That, along with keeping it all a secret from Matt was certainly stressful, and Matt was a cute and very welcome distraction. I honestly had never had this kind of attraction towards a man before. I genuinely cared about him. Though I hadn't been able to spend actual time with him in a few days, we were texting and talking on the phone all the time. He was very clever, and witty, and he made me laugh, which was a nice change from the high-stress environment at work and home. I kept my eyes on the road and listened as Matt outlined his night for me.

"Well, some of my Dance friends asked me to go out with them a while back, but I was so busy with work that I didn't really have the time." Matt's 'Dance' friends were his buddies from the studio he worked and danced for. I still couldn't get over that fact that he had three jobs. "Then it turned out I was free tonight so I finally agreed when they asked me. The night actually wasn't that bad; I had never been to the club before, Light and L finally shacked up last week so they were all over each other, and Misa picked some dude up because she was jealous over Light." I looked over just as he rolled his eyes. "She really needs to get over him. L and Light left early." He nudged me suggestively. "They had some business they needed to attend to." I blushed, still not used to the perverted side Matt rarely showed. "And we had agreed to get a cab, but Misa insisted she wasn't that drunk. You know how girls can be. Her dude offered to drive her, and she agreed. She tried to get me to come too, but they were both pissed, and I felt really uncomfortable, so I said no. I would have walked, but it's late and my building is across the bloody city from the club."

"And then you called me." I added. Matt smiled sweetly.

"Yes, and then I called you." We drove in comfortable silence until we reached Matt's building, Matt leaning his head against my shoulder easily. He looked thoughtful while we walked across the parking lot his building had. "Um, you know, it's really late and you probably have work tomorrow… You can stay over if you'd like." Matt offered as I walked him to the front door of the building. I blushed and bit my lip, looking down at him.

"Are you sure…? It's not too fast?" Matt laughed and took my hand as he entered the building, intertwining our fingers.

"Nah. I'm not gonna throw you down and sex you up as soon as we get up there." We stepped into the elevator after Matt typed in the code to the building. He bounced forward to press the elevator button, then settled beside me again, both of us looking forward. "Not tonight, at least." He purred as the elevator doors closed. I think my brain exploded.

…(-ω-)…

"Hello, my little itty, bitty kitty!" Matt cooed when we walked into his apartment, holding his arms open for Xiao to jump into. "Daddy missed you, yes he did!" I raised my eyebrows at the dramatic display of affection. Matt just grinned at me. "Look who I brought; it's your favourite blonde!" I snorted and placed a hand on his hip, guiding him to where his bedroom was.

"Alright, weirdo, time for bed." Matt put Xiao on the loveseat as we passed it and let me bring him to his room, laughing when the light switch didn't work. "I think your light is burnt out." I said, disgruntled.

"There is no light bulb." He replied casually, walking into the pitch-black room. "I put these up instead." There was a sharp click, and the room was suddenly glowing from the white fairy lights surrounding the bed in the corner of the room. They were stapled at the top, and dangled down delicately, looking almost like vines. I let out a soft breath, smiling.

"Whoa…" I breathed, smiling at Matt. He sat on his bed and grinned back, tilting his head. "It's pretty." I complemented him. Matt shuffled nervously while still smiling, looking down at his lap.

"There are some sheets and extra pillows in the hall closet if you'd like to make up the couch for tonight. Or, um… Y-you can stay in here with me, if you'd like. My couch is kind of small." He glanced up at me, and I'm certain he caught the embarrassed expression on my face. "Or I could sleep on the couch… I'm shorter…" He bit his lip uncertainly. I smiled reassuringly and stepped towards him, placing my hand on the top of his head and stroking his hair gently.

"I'll sleep on the couch. It's really not a big deal." I backed out of the room, holding the doorknob lightly in my palm. I paused, staring at Matt. He was looking back at me, the lights casting a soft glow on his hair, but shadowing his face a bit. I could see the outline of his cheekbone clearly, as well as half of his nose and the mouth I knew felt like heaven to kiss. "Goodnight," I said softly. He smiled at me, his shoulders relaxing.

"Goodnight." He replied, and I shut the door behind me.

(∪｡∪)...zzz

I dreamed that I was kissing Matt, one of my arms wrapped around his waist and the other placed gently on his shoulder. He was straddling my lap, pulling my head close with his hands tangled in my hair. He was making little whimpering sounds while we kissed, pressing up close to me. I could feel the heat of his body against mine, the smooth lines of his torso rubbing against me. It felt absolutely brilliant.

His mouth tasted incredible, and the feeling of his tongue tangling with mine made me shiver with pleasure. My brain went fuzzy from lack of air, and I knew I needed to take a proper breath, but I couldn't stop kissing him. His hips pressed against mine, our chests brushing against each other. My fingers gripped his shoulder, my nails digging into his collarbone. Matt whined and moaned into my mouth, kissing me harder. I wanted him closer, and I couldn't stop, and I couldn't breathe... I...

**_I can't breathe!_**

I woke up, to a cat lying on my face, restricting my airways. I sat up, making Xiao roll off of me and run away down the hall. I gasped for breath, leaning over and clutching my chest.

"Jesus Christ." I panted.

"Present~!" Matt sang as he made his way down the hall, holding his cat with one arm and rubbing his eye with his free hand. He was wearing the same tank top from last night and hugely baggy, zebra striped pajama pants. His hair was sticking up everywhere in an oddly adorable way. "What would you like for breakfast?" I climbed off his couch, still in my boxers and t-shirt, rubbing a hand down my face and running it through my hair. I slipped on my pants before joining him in the kitchen, not wanting to embarrass him.

"Mmf, whatever you've got." I said, sidling up behind him and touching his spiked hair. "Your hair is crazy and painfully cute." Matt had let his cat down, and she was eating breakfast. His hands flew up to his head, a deep blush coming to his face. I laughed, letting my hand drift down his spine to rest on the small of his back. "I like it." I squeezed his hip for a quick second, letting go to lean against his counter.

"Thanks." He pressed his hands to his face, trying to calm his blush. I grinned and rolled my shoulder, feeling a bit sore from sleeping on the couch. But I won't be telling Matt that.

"What time is it?" I asked. Matt sent a quick glance toward the oven, his eyes grazing over me minutely.

"It's still early. When do you start work?"

"Ten." Matt cracked the fridge open, pulling out a carton of eggs and a thing of butter, and looking over at me.

"Do you like eggs?" I nodded, watching as he got a pan out from a lower cupboard. I might have looked at his ass. Hey, it's a nice ass. Fuck off. "How should I make yours?" He asked, running a hand through his hair as he stood up.

"Uh, over easy is fine." He grinned and passed me to get a knife from a drawer, scooping a bit of butter and making me jump when he hit the side of the pan with the knife, letting the butter sizzle for a bit before cracking an egg on the pan.

"I like mine over easy too." He cracked another egg, and then paused, looking at the pan for a moment. "Do you want two?" I smiled awkwardly.

"No, one is fine." Matt looked up from his domestic duty, smiling beautifully and making my heart stop for a second. _Holy shit._

"There's some bread over on top of the fridge if you want to make some toast, too." I blinked a few times, slightly dazed.

"Oh, yeah… I'll go do that…" I walked in the direction he indicated with a jerk of his chin, hitting my hip on the handle of the fridge. I hissed under my breath and Matt giggled quietly. How someone could look so gorgeous first thing in the morning was a mystery to me. Granted, he still looked a bit sleepy, but that just made him look rumpled and cute. I snuck glances at him while I got out some bread, taking a moment to imagine that this was a regular thing for us, that I was able to wake up with him every morning and have him make me breakfast. The thought made me bite my lip to hold in a smile. Matt brought out parts of me I didn't know I had. My eyes followed his hand as he slipped it under his shirt, rubbing at his ribs. Matt was really skinny, his stomach flat and hips sticking out slightly. He massaged one of his ribs, grimacing slightly. His tank top only partially covered the tattoo on his collarbone, and my eyes lingered on the black ink and protruding bone for a second before I found my voice.

"Did you hurt yourself?" I asked, letting concern melt into my voice. Matt looked over at me, pulling his hand out of his shirt.

"Oh, um, we're learning new choreography at the studio and my partner's still getting used to lifting a man." He smiled at me. "I don't have the curves he usually grabs." I snickered, placing my hand on his waist while I looked around him for a toaster. "Oh, sorry." He apologized, crossing his tiny kitchen to pull a toaster out from one of the lower cupboards, snagging a spatula on his way back. I took my chance to stare at his ass again. He really had a nice ass. _Really nice_.

"Why do you keep your toaster there?" Matt gestured around the kitchen.

"It's tiny in here. Saves counter space." I shrugged in response and placed the bread in the toaster once I plugged it in. Matt continued cooking the eggs, nibbling on his thumb while he waited. He caught me watching him and blushed, looking away from me and leaning on the fridge. "Will you have time to go home and change for work?"

"Oh, yeah. They're pretty flexible with me." I answered without even looking at the time. Matt nodded. "Speaking of clothes, what's with all the stripes?" I gestured to his pajamas. Matt smiled widely.

"They confuse predators." he joked, winking at me. I blushed, but laughed.

"What are you up to today?" I asked. A hand came up to his messy hair, running through the one side and tugging gently.

"I have to go to the club for a bit to figure out my routines for tonight, then I teach from three to six, come home for something to eat, and then leave for the club at nine. We start at ten, and I'm usually back home by one. It's a busy day today." My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"You teach?" I asked. Matt grinned, his face brightening.

"Yeah. I teach dance classes. Today is Contemporary. I didn't tell you?" I laughed, happy to find out more about him.

"No! What do you teach?" Matt bit his tongue and held out a hand, ticking off his fingers as he listed,

"I teach a kid's Jazz class, which has students aged from eight to fourteen, a little kid's ballet class, which has kids five to ten and a contemporary class with mostly teenagers. They're all on different days of the week though." He sighed. I frowned.

"When do you work at the restaurant?" Matt smiled weakly.

"Part-time. I _was _working full-time but it was almost impossible." He thought for a moment. "I do the club on Friday, Saturday and Wednesday, teach on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and work at the restaurant Monday, Tuesday and Thursday." He raised his arms and wiggled his hips a bit, dancing cutely. "And I have Sundays off!" I chuckled, slightly impressed.

"You're pretty busy." I commented, laughing when he pouted.

"And _tired_!" He added, pointing to the cupboard without a door. "Get me some plates, will you, gorgeous?" I rolled my eyes, fighting a blush while I did as he asked, being surprised by a quick peck on my lips when I turned back around, two plates in my hands. "Thank you." He purred. I lost my brain for a second.

"Uh, hmm, you're welcome." I mumbled, much to Matt's amusement. We sat on his living room floor with our little breakfasts, Xiao bugging us until Matt pretended to throw something for her to eat, both of us laughing like evil bastards. 'Cause there are two things you never lie about; Love, and free food.

"I should probably go check up on Misa." He said later on, after we washed the dishes. I glanced at the clock on the oven. I had time.

"I can come with you, if you'd like. I wouldn't mind meeting this infamous Misa." Matt laughed lightly.

"Sure, why not. Hang on a sec, I'll get somewhat dressed." I collected my things and waited near the door for him to get dressed. Matt bounced out of his room a minute later, wearing a simple outfit of above-the-knee faded red shorts and a loose white v-neck t-shirt. His goggles were in his hair, his bangs still falling into his eyes. He grabbed my arm and dragged me out of his apartment, a black gym bag on his shoulder. Matt locked the door behind him and walked one apartment down and across the hall, knocking tentatively on the door.

A gorgeous guy around my height opened the door, his dark brown hair almost as messy as Matt's, but he didn't pull it off quite as well as Matt did. He blinked hazel eyes at Matt, looking confused.

"Hey," Matt said, "I just came to check on Misa. I was wondering if you got back alright." The guy blinked at Matt, then finally recognized him.

"Ah, yeah, you're Matt, right? Sorry, man. The night's still a bit… Fuzzy." He glanced behind him. "But, yeah, we got back all in one piece. I'm just making breakfast now. You want to join?" The dark-haired boy noticed me suddenly, looking over at Matt. "Who's this? Did I meet him last night?" Matt chuckled in an annoyed way.

"No, this is my boyfriend. He stayed over after giving me a ride last night." I waved slightly. The guy raised his hand at me. "And we have to go, but maybe some other time?" Matt offered, backing away. The guy nodded and started retreating back into the apartment.

"Cool, cool. See you around, and have a good day, man."

"Likewise." Matt replied, rolling his eyes as he turned and wrapping an arm around my waist. We walked into the elevator, Matt leaning against me.

"Someone's not the sharpest tool in the shed." Matt laughed softly.

"He's probably just hung-over. Although, him and Misa would be the cutest ditzy couple I've ever seen." I snorted, touching his shoulder lightly. Matt smiled up at me.

He kissed me goodbye in front of his building, making me get all flustered again. I wanted to stay with him, but he was busy and I needed to get home anyways. I kissed him a few more times, just chaste brushes of our lips that made him giggle and in turn, made me smile at Matt's adorableness. He whined when I pulled away, tugging insistently at my hands to keep me close.

"I have to go!" I laughed, letting him tug me close for a last kiss.

"Fine then, leave me!" Matt wailed dramatically. I rolled my eyes and pulled him in for a brief hug. "Call me later?" He asked against my chest. I ruffled his hair and backed away, smiling.

"Of course I will. We still need a proper third date." Matt laughed and blushed cutely, biting his lip. "I really should go now, though. I'll call you." I blew a kiss to Matt and started towards my car, turning back to find him waving. I laughed to myself and waved back, climbing in my car and slamming the door shut.

**...****＼**^O^**／****...**

**Mello:** Hey there, Ginger.

**Matt:** What's up, Blondie?

**Mello:** Oh, god. I will never call you Ginger if you never call me Blondie again.

**Matt:** Deal.

**Blondie:** Thank you. (: So… I think there's something you need to know.

**Matt:** What? Is something wrong? /:

**Mello:** Absolutely.

**Matt:** What is it?

**Mello:** Your cat tried to murder me this morning.

**Matt:** Holy shit, I'm actually laughing so hard right now. I think I scared my coworkers. :P

**Mello:** O: It's true! She was sleeping right on my face! I almost suffocated!

**Matt:** She's a tiny cat! How could she suffocate you?

**Mello:** She's big in spirit. There's a tiger in her soul.

**Matt:** A TIGER? XD

**Mello:** Yes, a majestic fucking jungle cat.

**Matt:** Oh my god! XD

**Mello:** I saw it in her eyes. She did it on purpose. She must be jealous.

**Matt:** Yeah, she no longer has me all to herself.

**Mello:** That sounds like bestiality.

**Matt:** That's disgusting. -_-'

**Mello:** Tee hee hee! I hate working. My coworkers are fucking stupid.

**Matt:** One of the dancers in my class might be pregnant. She's fifteen.

**Mello:** O.o Okay, you win.

**Matt:** Thought so. Hey, Mello?

**Mello:** Yeeeessssss?

**Matt:** Would you like to take in a film with me this Sunday evening?

**Mello:** I would love to. I get to buy this time though, so I'm choosing the movie.

**Matt:** Only if I get ice cream. I fucking love that shit.

**Mello:** Heh, we will go get ice cream afterwards.

**Matt:** Yay! ^-^

**Mello:** And you call yourself a man. Now go teach pregnant girls to dance.

**Matt:** I most certainly do call myself a man. And she only MIGHT be pregnant. She's not sure. But I do have to go anyways. See you on Sunday my darling.

**Mello:** Heh, it's not soon enough, pookie-pie!

**Matt: **Blondie. :D

**Mello:** I hate you ):

**Matt:** Uh-huh. ;) I'll call you before my shift at the club.

**Mello:** I look forward to it. (:

**Matt:** See ya. :P

**Mello:** Bye!


	5. Let's Go To The Movies

**Hi! :D I come bearing fluff! Sorry for the wait.**

**As always, thanks for reading, guys!**

* * *

I locked my apartment behind me, waving at the old lady down the hall from me. She looked surprised to find me in normal clothes.

"Hot date tonight, Peanut?" She called. I chuckled and paused in front of the elevator.

"You betcha." I laughed, pressing the down button. She nodded to herself, adjusting her purse.

"Well if you're bringing him home to fuck, try to keep it down, okay?" I blushed and laughed, but nodded.

"Sure thing, Ms. Merullo." She smiled kindly at me, waving as the elevator binged.

"Have fun!" I waved again at her, stepping into the elevator.

"Thank you!" Ah, good old LA grannies. Ms. Merullo, a widow, was a mother of two and a grandmother of three. She constantly referred to me as either: Skank, Homo, Sweetheart or Peanut. All the silver-blonde hair on her head was her own, and she was one of my best friends. She was extremely chill and very inappropriate. And don't get her wrong, Homo is an affectionate nickname. She has no problem with my sexuality. And Skank refers to my wardrobe comprised largely of leather.

I checked my hair in the reflective surface in the elevator, blushed and stopped when I noticed what I was doing, then ended up fixing a few out-of-place hairs anyways. A pleasant rumbling noise greeted me as I exited my apartment, a sleek red car pulling up and my sexy redhead leaning out the driver's window. He pulled his goggles down, letting them dangle around his neck.

"Hey, gorgeous." He purred, raising an eyebrow at me. I nearly shat myself laughing.

"Did you plan that?" I asked when I calmed down. The forced charm seemed very out of place from his usual shy, dorky demeanor. Matt looked embarrassed, but managed a smile.

"Maybe." I burst out laughing again, holding my stomach and bracing myself on the edge of his open car window. "Mello…" He whined. I snorted, then covered my mouth, gasping as I apologized.

"I'm sorry, you're just so cute!" I straightened up, tried to wipe the wide grin off my face and failed. Matt pouted at me. I burst into more giggles, his expression just _so painfully cute._

"Come give me a kiss before I lose all my pride." I smiled while I complied, leaving a soft peck on his pout. I walked around his car and climbed in, sliding my hand onto his knee after I snapped my seat belt into place.

"Nice car." I commented. Matt exhaled shortly, grinning.

"She's kind of old, but she's my baby girl." I smirked amusedly at Matt, who turned his head to smile innocently at me. "You look really nice." He complemented me, looking me up and down. I smoothed my shirt self-consciously.

"Thanks." I was wearing a white button-up shirt with the first few buttons undone and a pair of black denim shorts with chains on one leg. I didn't usually show this much of my scar, which climbed partially down the left side of my chest. His eyes barely grazed over it though, which gave me some relief. Matt was wearing a light blue and black striped tank top that was falling off his right shoulder and baggy black shorts with a studded belt. He had a bracelet on with a rainbow charm dangling from it, which made me smile for some reason. "So do you." Matt flushed slightly and looked down at himself quickly, ruffling his hair.

"You really live in that building?" He asked shyly, as though he wasn't sure what my reaction would be. I laughed quietly.

"Yep. I live on the second highest floor." Matt made a small sound to show he was impressed, then sent a shy smile over at me. The silence after that felt a bit odd, so I remedied it by pressing the play button on his CD player. I jumped when loud, bubbly-sounding music started playing. Matt turned bright red and quickly turned it off, making me laugh and look at him curiously.

"Don't ask." He mumbled. I ignored his request.

"What was _that_?" Matt pressed his lips together, making it clear that his mouth was staying shut. I reached for the button again, but Matt grabbed my arm, blushing again. I narrowed my eyes and him, which he missed because he was driving, and slowly leaned towards him, kissing his shoulder. He relaxed his shoulder, letting me kiss to the base of his neck, when he rolled his shoulder, trying to shrug me off.

"Hey, don't distract me when I'm driving." He scolded, smirking. I grinned and retreated to his shoulder, then pulled away. Matt relaxed fully, letting my hand slip above his knee. I leaned in before he could stop me, my teeth grazing the skin beneath his jaw. My hand slowly trailed up his leg, stopping mid thigh. His whole body tensed, his breath halting. "Mello!" He hissed in surprise.

"Tell me." I murmured. He laughed nervously, shivering as I latched onto an earlobe with my mouth.

"Jesus, Mello." I felt the car swerve, and I backed off, keeping my hands to myself while I laughed. He glared over at me, but chuckled breathlessly. "You're gonna send me to my grave, I swear." He shook his head and paid attention to the road, unable to stop me as I used ninja skills to turn the music back on. He gave up, simply becoming a tomato and driving with his head ducked slightly in shame. The longer I listened, the more I was confused. Eventually, I just started laughing.

"What the fuck? This isn't even English." Matt smacked my leg lightly.

"It's K-pop. And I think it's catchy, so fuck you." We let it play, the beat making me wiggle in my seat.

"Okay, it's not too bad. But this song's a bit cutesy." Matt reached over and changed the song, settling his hand on my thigh.

"This one's better." We drove to the theatre, Matt singing loudly and really badly, entertaining both of us. He put his window down a bit, letting the warm, sweet night air in while we jammed. I was laughing uncontrollably by the time we got to the theatre, Matt having set me off by turning to me as he parked the car, flashing me a peace-sign and closing his eyes while he smiled, saying in a girly voice, "Kawaii Desu!"

I picked some horror movie, and Matt paid for popcorn before I could stop him, cheerfully taking my hand and pulling me to our theatre. I glanced around us, looking for anyone that could be giving us dirty looks before relaxing against Matt, trading his hand for putting my arm around his shoulders. He smiled up at me, making my heart flutter. _God, this boy drives me crazy._

* * *

I distracted myself by watching the steady _drip drop_ of the clear liquid falling into the plastic bag. It reminded me of an hourglass, but with liquid, slowly slipping time away. For a moment, I could imagine it was water, but the quick jab of a needle inside my arm broke my blissful ignorance.

"Ouch." I complained lightly. Nurse Ella pursed her lips, taping the tube to my arm.

"Oh, stop. You've had this thing in before, you know how it is." She squeezed my shoulder, passing me to flip through my chart briefly.

"Yes, but I have bruises inside my elbow now and it hurts." I sighed. "And why are you going through my chart? You already know what it says." I snapped. Ella tried to smile at me, her eyes full of pity. She was used to my anger by now.

"Sometimes I can look at it and believe it says something else, love." She murmured. I looked down at my sweat-pants clad legs, gripping one bony thigh with my equally bony hand. Nurse Ella started to leave the room, her shoes silent on the hospital floor, but she stopped when I started talking.

"Ella…" I whispered. She turned to face me, a kind smile on her old face.

"Yes, dear?" I swallowed the lump in my throat. My hand came up from my thigh to run over my bald head.

"I'm dying." My words came out in a hoarse whisper, too painful to say at full volume. "This time, I won't be getting better. I can feel it." Nurse Ella crossed the room to hold my free hand, patting my wrist lightly.

"Don't say that. You just keep on fighting, alright?" I stared hard at the floor, grief overwhelming me. "Think about your future, love. You can do this." Ella rubbed my shoulder and left the room, leaving me to cry silently.

She didn't deny it. They never did anymore. They never tried to tell me that I wasn't dying. Not that it would really do much to console me. And I was tired of fighting. I didn't want what my future held; more surgeries and needles and drugs with names so long you couldn't pronounce them. I wanted to sleep. I just wanted to close my eyes and get away from this nightmare of a life. I didn't want to be so lonely anymore. I wanted to _sleep_.

_I wanted Matt._

* * *

Matt jumped beside me for the billionth time, trying not to look scared and failing miserably. I rolled my eyes and fake-yawned, stretching my arms. I was about to put my arm across his shoulders when he moved, leaning forward and covering his eyes. I never thought Matt would be such a pansy about horror movies. I tried the yawn thing again, and got it right the second time, slinging my arm across his shoulders. Matt looked over at me, smiling adorably.

"Really?" he whispered. I nodded, grinning.

"Yep. That just happened." He laughed and snuggled against my side, leaning his head against my shoulder and tickling my neck with his bright red hair. He flinched less when he was tucked against me, but still gasped every now and then in surprise. I just smiled, amused, and placed a kiss on his head, making him peek up at me. His goggles were still around his neck, and his eyes were wide and dark from the lighting. I stuck my tongue out, then puckered my lips at him, getting surprised with a kiss from Matt. I felt myself blush and looked away, Matt giggling quietly and kissing my neck. He settled against my shoulder again, placing a hand on my leg and playing with the hem of my shorts. My heart jumped to my throat, and Matt chuckled under his breath.

"Relax," he whispered, "Don't be so tense, love." I almost melted at the way he said 'love'. That accent was going to kill me one day. His fingers teased under my shorts a bit, touching my knee and just above there, before he gave me mercy and settled his hand on my leg above my shorts again, turning his head to kiss my neck again.

"Matt…" I whispered, a laugh finding its way to my voice. He snickered against my neck, leaving three quick kisses behind before leaning against my shoulder again.

I held Matt's hand while we walked across the street to the ice cream shop, swinging our intertwined hands between us and pulling Matt out of the way of a car. He looked at me with wide eyes, then clung to my side while we walked to the shop, making me laugh while he mumbled on about 'NDE's' and 'Savior of the niiiiiight!'

I caught a girl staring at Matt when we entered the store, Matt having let go of my hand while telling me a story that required a lot of hand movement. I glared at her and possessively wrapped my arm around his waist, smiling at him when he looked up curiously. Matt allowed the contact and immediately ordered the most obscure flavor in the shop; Maple Candied Bacon, and I made a weird face at him before promptly ordering whatever had the most chocolate. Matt tried to steal some of my ice cream when we sat down, and I initiated a spoon-fight with him until he gave up. Or at least I thought he did, until he waited for me to take a bite before stealing some.

"No!" I cried, grieving the loss of my chocolate. "That would have tasted so good! I can practically taste it now!" I pretended to cry against the table, peeking up to find Matt staring at me incredulously.

"You have a whole bowl left right there!" He pointed at my bowl with his spoon. I pouted.

"But I love chocolate, and I wanted _that_ bite." He laughed disbelievingly.

"You're like a child." He scooped some of his and held it out for me. "Here, try some of mine." I wrinkled my nose. "No, it's good, I promise."

"There's _meat_ in it. That's disgusting." He shook his head, laughing.

"No, it's delicious!" He took another bite, leaning towards me and obnoxiously humming, "Mmm…" I leaned away from him and filled my mouth with my own ice cream, narrowing my eyes at him. He swallowed and held out another spoonful for me. "Please?" I shook my head, swallowing my ice cream.

"No! I'll barf."

"_Please_…?" He murmured; softening his features and sending huge, green puppy eyes over at me. _Good lord, he is so fucking cute. _I pursed my lips and scowled at him, leaning towards him.

"Fine then." I opened my mouth when he smiled, putting a small amount of the cold substance in my mouth. I paused for a moment, tilting my head as though in thought while I tasted the frozen treat. "Actually, that's not bad."

"AHA!" Matt exclaimed, making the woman sitting behind him jump and swivel around to glare at him. "I _told_ you! Ha, I was right!" I rolled my eyes and leaned forward to kiss his cheek, making him blush.

"Yeah, well don't get used to it." He mock-scowled at me, making me laugh. "So did you teach your pregnant chick how to dance?" I asked, taking another bite of ice cream. Matt rolled his eyes and grinned, biting his spoon absentmindedly.

"She already knows how to dance, and she figured out she wasn't pregnant." He wrinkled his nose, stabbing his ice cream with his spoon. "She got her period. _During my class._" He shuddered. "Girls are gross."

"Hey, it's natural." I countered. He made a face, then shoveled a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.

"How come we never talk about your work?" He asked.

"My work is boring and yours is not." I answered simply, winking at him. Matt blushed and shook his head to get back on track.

"W-well, I'd still like to hear about it. I like learning things about you." He leaned against the table, propping his head up on one hand. I rolled my head before settling to look at Matt. He smiled at me, and I laughed awkwardly and clasped my hands together in front of me on the table.

"Um, well... I'm trying to define what I do." Matt looked up at me patiently while I collected my thoughts. "Okay, so really what I do is manage the businesses my family owns. I'm pretty much the 'Social Manager'; I make sure we're on good terms with everyone and that they're on good terms with us." He looked a bit confused. "Make sure all the agreements are being kept and all contracts followed." He nodded, his face clearing with understanding.

"So, in other words, you're pretty much the most important person there." I felt myself go bright red.

"N-no, I wouldn't say that." Matt smiled brightly, sitting up straight.

"I would. Sounds like you work hard." I rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment.

"I guess..." He grinned wider, stealing more of my ice cream. He cut off my protest with a happy look from those eyes.

"Now who's being modest?" I held back a smile and stole some of his ice cream in return, Matt not complaining. "What are your friends like?" I snorted lightly.

"I don't really have many. I think I scare them away." When Matt looked puzzled, I gestured to my face. Matt's eyes softened when he realized what I meant.

"Hey... That's just being mean to yourself." A small smile curved half his mouth, making my stomach flutter. "I don't even notice it most of the time." I shuffled in my seat, uncomfortable under his gentle eyes.

"You'd be the first." I mumbled. I jumped when I felt his hand settle on my knee under the table.

"But not the last." He said. "I didn't know you were so self-conscious about it." I shrugged. We were quiet for a moment, Matt looking like he was thinking about something. "I worry about my weight a lot." He told me matter-of-factly. I started at him with my mouth open in surprise. He was looking down, a small blush on his face. Evidently, this was another thing about him that only I knew.

"What? Your _weight_? But you're so skinny!" He made a face.

"I get lifted in dances sometimes, and my job at the club sometimes demands I show some skin. I know I'm not particularly muscular, but I can at least stay lean most of the time. I've gained two pounds since I met you." He told me, nodding once to himself. "I kept track." I was shocked, to say the least.

"Wha- I don't even... But that's hardly anything! You're so thin!" Matt shrunk down in his seat.

"I don't feel thin." He mumbled.

"That's ridiculous." I muttered. Matt didn't look offended; just like I had proved a point.

"That's how I feel when you talk about your scar. You only focus on _it_ and forget that the rest of you is beautiful." I bit my lip, feeling slightly ashamed.

"I'm only doing what everyone else does."

"I don't do it."

"And for that, I'm endlessly grateful." He blinked those wide, kind eyes at me, drawing me in hopelessly. I sighed, smiling at him. "You're beautiful too, you know." Matt blushed, looking away and covering his mouth to hide his small smile. "Are you ready to head home? It's getting pretty late." Matt agreed, and we finished our ice cream, holding hands again as we made our way to his car.

"Next time we see a movie, it better not be a scary one. I'm gonna have nightmares." Mat remarked on the way to my place, his K-pop mix CD replaced by some British band. I laughed and tightened my grip on his hand, which he had placed in my own while he was driving.

"Sorry, I didn't realize it would bug you so much. We'll go get coffee or something more low-key next time we go out." He pulled up to my apartment, glancing up at the building regretfully. He sighed, looking over at me.

"Well..." He started, trailing off. I bit my lip.

"Would you like to come up to my place? We can make some coffee or something." I offered, not ready for the night to end. Matt smiled, but raised his eyebrow.

"You're asking me for 'coffee'?" He asked suggestively.

"Calm down, pervert. I'm just talking about coffee." I rolled my eyes, loving the way Matt laughed.

"Yeah, I'd love to." He chuckled, kissing my cheek and shutting off the car. "Will I get in shit if I park my baby here?" He asked after opening my door for me. I shook my head, laughing.

"No, don't worry."

The ride up in the elevator was filled with giggles while I held Matt with one arm and blew into his ear, not letting him go. He tried to push me away, but I flexed my arm and nipped at the edge of his ear, blowing into it again. He squeaked and started laughing.

"Mello, stop! It tickles!" I laughed against his neck, using my free hand to tickle his side, making him laugh uncontrollably. I absolutely adored his laugh. When the elevator dinged open, Ms. Merullo was taking out her garbage, and she looked over at Matt's laughing. He blushed and struggled out of my grasp, looking embarrassed. I just smiled, digging in my pocket for my keys and swinging them around my index finger while walking to my apartment door.

"Good evening, Ms. Merullo."

"How you doin', Sweetheart?" She asked, glancing at Matt. "Who's this?" I pointed at Matt and gestured towards Ms. Merullo.

"Matt, Ms. Merullo. Ms. Merullo, Boyfriend." I introduced them. Ms. Merullo smiled at the shy-looking Matt, holding her hand out.

"Oh, so you're Matt. I've heard about you! You're right, Peanut, he's _very_ cute." Matt blushed and shook her hand.

"It's nice to meet you." He murmured shyly. Ms. Merullo looked intrigued.

"Is that a hint of Scottish I hear?" Matt laughed nervously.

"Yeah, I lived in Glasgow for most of my life." Ms. Merullo looked properly intrigued.

"My oldest daughter went there for a study she's doing." I watched them chat a bit about the city, leaning against my door frame. Matt glanced at me while he talked, scratching his head nervously and smiling cutely. Ms. Merullo caught our interaction and shifted her empty garbage bin, smiling at Matt. "I can see Peanut is waiting patiently, so I'll let you go. Have fun, boys." Matt said goodbye in a quiet, respectful voice, and he smiled at me while he danced past me into my apartment. And paused.

"Holy shit." Ms. Merullo laughed from where she was standing, unlocking her apartment door. I chuckled and started closing the door, grinning at my neighbor.

"Goodnight." I laughed, shutting the door behind me.

Matt was standing in the same place, staring with wide eyes at my apartment. I came up behind him and touched his back, laughing quietly.

"You okay?"

"Holy shit." He repeated. My living room area was about the same size as his kitchen, living room and bedroom combined. "Your house is huge." He breathed, looking fascinated. He crossed the room tentatively, squeaking when he realized his shoes were still on. "Sorry!" He apologized, pulling them off and rushing to place them by the door. "Your TV is so big- Oh wow, a full sized couch!" Matt lay across the couch enticingly, making my body react abruptly. I turned away from my amazed boyfriend before I jumped him, moving into my kitchen and pulling off my Docs. "You've even got a rug and crap in here." Matt joined me in the kitchen, coming up behind me and hugging me while I busied myself with coffee. "Holy shit, you have a dishwasher! How did you afford all this?" I blushed deeply, feeling very privileged.

"Um, my family owns the building. I was meant to get the penthouse, but it was _way_ too big, and I didn't feel comfortable." Matt moved to stand beside me, looking up at me curiously. "I pay rent; I don't get any of this for free." Matt smiled, touching my arm briefly and taking my hand.

"I didn't think so. You're not the type to enjoy that kind of thing. You're an honorable man." He kissed my cheek and wrapped his arms around my waist. I blushed and moved my arm around him, making coffee one-handed while he leaned against me.

"How do you like your coffee?" I asked, rubbing his shoulder absently. He hummed pleasantly at the contact and fit his head between my neck and shoulder.

"Two teaspoons of sugar and just a bit of cream." I laughed.

"Would you like some coffee with your sugar?" He hit my stomach gently, laughing.

"Shut up. I'm the one drinking it." I snorted lightly, pulling him closer by his shoulder. He felt good against me; fit well into the shape of my body. My hand trailed down his back, feeling his protruding vertebrae, and ended at the bottom of his spine, Matt letting out a shaky breath and kissing my collarbone. "Mello..." He murmured.

"Mm?" I mumbled back, the clinking of the spoon against the mug making Matt jump a bit.

"Heh," he laughed nervously, "N-nothing." He settled against my shoulder, letting me rock him slowly from side to side. "You're comfy." I chuckled.

"Thank you." I noticed suddenly that it was my left side we was snuggling into, and I felt myself tense. "Um, you don't mind my-"

"Shh." He left a kiss on my neck, right on my scar. It felt weird, but kind of nice. The scar wasn't as thick there, having healed a lot faster than on my face. I had a neck brace on during the healing to keep my neck still, and the skin there has broken less than the skin on my face, making the healing happen faster and smoother. I could almost feel his touch as though it was on my regular skin. "I don't care." I tilted my head to rest it on his in a gesture of affection.

"I have to let go of you so we can move into the living room." I said softly, not wanting to disturb the peace too much. He stepped away from me, those amazing eyes smiling at me along with his mouth. I bent down to kiss him quickly, picking up our coffee cups. "So cute..." I mumbled to myself. We piled onto my couch, Matt tangling himself with me. We stayed there even after we were done our drinks, my eyes closing when Matt shuffled up me and started petting my hair with both hands. His fingers paused, tangled in my hair, and I felt him leave a tiny kiss on the tip of my nose, making me smile. He giggled shyly, kissing my cheek, my arms looping around his waist. He sighed and settled against my chest again, my stomach tingling happily. He was warm and his weight was comforting, his breath whispering across my neck. He smelled like coconut and some other kind of fruit, and I sighed purposefully, in order to take in his scent. He shifted against me to free one of his arms, sighing comfortably.

"Where's your room?" He asked, rubbing at his ribs. I moved one of my hands to do it for him, moving in slow circles, being gentle when he winced.

"Upstairs." His head lifted off my chest, his expression suddenly excited.

"You have an upstairs?" I laughed.

"It's a loft apartment." He smiled brightly, laying his head on my chest again.

"Cool..." He whispered, like a fascinated child. I laughed and laid a hand on his head, my other one continuing to massage his side. His hair was just as ridiculously soft as it was the last time I touched it, and I slipped my hand into his hair, letting it run between my fingers. He practically purred.

"You should talk to your partner about your lifts." I said, brushing my hand down his side when I stopped rubbing. Matt let out a soft, 'Mm' against my chest, nuzzling my collarbone.

"I have practice on Tuesday, I'll mention it to him then." He looked up at me with bright eyes, making me grin. "Would you like to come?"

"Sounds good." I replied, running my hand through his hair one more time. "We can go get coffee afterwards, as long as you won't get nightmares." Matt fake-scowled at me, pulling a chuckle out of me. He snapped at my hand with his teeth playfully when I went to touch his cheek, smiling up at him.

"Shut up." He scolded, breathing a laugh. I smiled, cupped his face in my hands and pulled him down for a kiss.

* * *

Nightmares. They were something I had grown accustomed to.

I woke with a start, sweating, my joints aching. I lay against my pillows, my chest stinging as I panted.

_God damn it, Matt. Where are you when I need you?_


	6. Dance Practice

**Hi! (:**

**I'd just like to say thanks to all my reviewers/favouriters/alerters! And sorry for not explaining anything, but I don't want to give anything away yet! XD I promise it will all make sense soon.**

**Also, the choreography I described in this chapter does not belong to me. It belongs to Travis Wall (The song they're dancing to is How It Ends by DeVotchKa) and yes I _did_ borrow it from So You Think You Can Dance. Because that show has its moments. :P Please don't be afraid to be mean about my description of the ****choreography **either, I'm still not too sure about it myself.

**(This is random and completely irrelevant to the story)**** Since I'm Canadian, I use 's's where Americans might use 'z's (like paralyse, criticise ect.) so I was making 's' and 'z' sounds (don't ask me why), and if you think about it, 'z' is the same sound as 's' but you use your vocal chords. I just thought that was cool. :P Blame the word 'exercise' for making me think of this. For the most part, I try to type in the American style, because I noticed there were a lot of Americans reading this story, but you might notice that I spell some words all different ways.**

**Anyways, enjoy! (^_^;)**

* * *

I had to climb up a steep staircase to get to Matt's dance studio, and my legs burned by the time I made it to the top. _There's my workout for the day. _I thought to myself, leaning against a wall to catch my breath. _Damn, I'm out of shape. _The studio was made up of a wide open room with mirrors for walls and a bar stretching across one wall. There was a small room beside me with a couch in it labelled 'Waiting Room' and a few other doors that must hold other rooms. The first door had two labels on it, Christa and Light, the second had Matt and Lauren on it and the third had Devin, Abby and Misa on it. There were voices coming from the second door, which was open, one of them speaking in an exaggerated Scottish accent.

"Jesus Chroist! Can ye gie's a haund? Courrie oop, why dounchye?" It shouted, followed by a loud round of laughter.

"I don't talk like that!" Another voice exclaimed, one that I identified as Matt's. There was more laughter, and the voice from before returned to an American accent.

"You do when you get frustrated. It's hilarious."

"I wouldn't talk like that if you helped me out, you git!"

"Okay, okay!" A third voice jumped in, this one female. There was a hint of laughter still attached to it. "Get back to work, guys. Stretching's over in two minutes." I made my way over to the open door, sticking my head in shyly. Matt was sitting cross-legged on the floor, bending over so his elbows were on the ground and his hands were propping up his head. _Holy flexible._ He was making a face at a lean, very attractive Hispanic man, who was doing an arm stretch. There was a brunette girl with a spiky pixie cut standing aside, fiddling with a CD player. Matt looked over at the door when I stepped in, smiling at me and straightening up.

"Hey! You made it!" He was wearing a loose black and white striped three-quarter length sleeve shirt and the same sweatpants he was wearing when we first met, looking comfy and extra cute. His hair was pulled in a tiny ponytail, his bangs still in his face. His goggles were sitting next to the CD player, and I watched him reach for where they usually sat at his neck when he stood up, coming to greet me. I hovered in the doorway, aware of his companions' eyes on us as I accepted a hug and a swift kiss from Matt, smiling down at him.

"I almost got lost. I was dumb and didn't realize the studio was on a second floor." I tugged at a lock of my hair. "Blonde moment." I joked. Matt smiled and the girl by the CD player snorted. Matt kissed me again and pulled me into the room.

"Don't be shy, come inside!" The rhythm in which he said his words made them sound kind of sing-songy, and made me laugh. I didn't know why I was feeling so shy. I wanted Matt's friends to like me. Matt crossed the room quickly to tug on the tall guy's arm, pulling him over to me. "This is Devin, he's one of my dance partners." I held my hand out to shake hands with Devin. We were almost the same height, but he was about an inch or so taller. "This is my boyfriend, Mello." Matt told Devin. He held my gaze with cold eyes while we shook hands. _Intimidating, much?_ "And over there's Brianna. She's our choreographer and she also owns the studio." I smiled and waved shortly at her after Devin stopped crushing my hand with his. She nodded once at me and stopped playing with the CD player.

"Are you two done stretching?" She asked, smiling at the dancers in front of me. They both nodded, and Brianna waved them over, looking stern. "Well let's go then. Good lord." Matt rolled his eyes and Devin snickered, patting Matt on the shoulder before wrapping his arm around them, the two of them lining up with the tape on the ground. "Okay, go!" The music started playing and I was entranced.

Devin and Matt took a step in sync, then Matt fell sideways, being caught by Devin, who turned him around to face us. I sat down while Matt was lifted, just barely catching the grimace on Matt's face before he was put down and then Matt had Devin up in the air. He landed without a sound, and the two returned to having their arms around each other before Devin slipped away and Matt sunk to the floor, rolling away and getting to his feet.

Devin came up behind him and 'stabbed' him in the back, Matt's back arching gracefully as he leaned against Devin, who shrugged him off. Matt ran up at Devin, shoving him, and Matt did an impressive spin in the air before grabbing Devin's hand and flipping him over. They danced for a second, doing some leaps and turns and suddenly Matt was being _thrown across the room_-

"Stop!" Brianna suddenly yelled, pausing the music. "Stop, stop it. Stop." Matt got up off the floor, looking over at Devin in confusion. I was puzzled. They looked perfect to me. "_Matt_." Brianna called. Matt rubbed his arm, kicking his bare foot against the floor.

"Sorry." He murmured.

"No, don't apologize. I've seen your faces, and there was a pain face. What hurts?" Matt rolled his shoulder, looking over at Devin and then me, seeming nervous. I smiled encouragingly.

"Um, it's nothing..." He whispered. "We can start again." He moved to go back into position, but Brianna looked like she had different ideas.

"Matt." The small girl crossed her arms, glaring dangerously at Matt. She radiated authority._ "_We have a competition in a few months and you and Devin are two of the best dancers in our troupe. If you're hiding an injury, it's only going to get worse, and you won't be able to compete, which will throw a wrench right into our game plan! So _what's going on_?" Matt sighed exasperatedly and turned to Devin.

"When you're lifting me, you've got to grab me a bit lower." He put his hands on his waist to show him. "Right now, you're getting my ribs and it gets sore later on." Devin made a concerned face and stepped closer to Matt.

"Shit, sorry. Here, right?" I watched with slight jealousy as Devin placed his hands on Matt's waist, Matt nodding.

"Yeah. You should get better grip there anyways." The two separated, getting into position, but before Brianna could start the music again a loud, tiny blonde girl and two men walked into the room.

"Heyy~!" The girl shouted, bouncing over to Brianna and hugging her. The stern girl looked annoyed, and didn't return the affection.

"Hello, Misa. Late as always." Brianna answered dryly. Misa pulled away with a pout on her glittery lips. _Oh good god, _that's_ Misa. Poor Matt. _Misa had long blond hair that stopped around her ribs, heavily made-up eyes and bright pink lips. She was wearing a pair of short black shorts and a tight tank top.

"Brianna is so mean to Misa. She should be nicer, or Misa won't dance in the competition." Misa left Brianna alone and flung herself at Matt, who hugged her slowly, looking taken aback. The two men who walked in after her were holding hands and looked embarrassed to be here. One was slouching horribly, wild black hair blocking his features and the other stood with a painfully straight back, his golden-brown hair even more perfect than mine. The slouching man was wearing a long sleeved white shirt and jeans, (_How can he stand the heat?_) and the perfect one was wearing a short-sleeved button-up shirt and pressed and tailored shorts. The slouching man turned to face me, his thumb between his lips thoughtfully. There were some extremely dark circles under his black eyes, and he was very pale, with a slender face. He looked tired, but not unattractive. He was kind of cute, actually. He wasn't necessarily my type though. Mr. Perfect had flawless complexion, well balanced lips, nice brown eyes... It kind of made me sick.

"You're Mello." The slouchy one said in a soft voice, abandoning his companion to crouch next to me. I nodded, holding out my hand.

"It's nice to meet you." The man looked at my hand with shadowed eyes, but didn't shake it.

"You're Matt's newest love interest." He stated simply. I blushed at the word 'love', but nodded anyways, taking my hand back awkwardly. He stared at me for a long moment, making my skin crawl uncomfortably.

"L, I think you're scaring him." The perfect one approached me, holding out a hand for me to shake. He had a firm, business-like hand shake that set me at ease and on edge at the same time. "My name is Light Yagami. This is L, my partner." He took a seat beside L gingerly, looking grossed out by the dance floor.

"Matt's mentioned you." I said pleasantly. Like I said, I wanted them to like me.

"Matt has mentioned you as well." Light replied, looking me up and down and frowning at me. I shrunk in on myself internally. _Tough crowd. _Misa, Matt and Devin were chatting in the background, and Brianna's voice raised over everyone's making me jump.

"Everyone shut the fuck up! We have practice! Matt and Devon, get in position NOW!" Matt held his hands up in surrender, Misa disengaging from their embrace, and Matt and Devin returned to their position. I focused on Matt while the pair danced, fascinated by his movements. He seemed so natural and effortless while he was dancing, and it made me happy to see him like that. His face was very expressive while he danced, and I could feel every emotion he spoke with his features. After doing the piece twice, Brianna was satisfied and let the two men take a break, Light and Misa taking their place. Matt plopped down beside me with a water bottle, his goggles around his neck again. He smiled while panting, and I leaned over to kiss his cheek. He giggled and swatted me away, blushing.

"Don't kiss me when I'm all sweaty." He complained. I grinned and snaked my arms around his waist, pulling him onto my lap.

"I don't care." I was feeling possessive after watching another man put his hands all over him. It was ridiculous, I know; Matt and I had only been dating for a few weeks, and Devin was his dance partner, but I couldn't help myself. Devin glared at me as he sat beside us, chugging down some water. Matt leaned against me while he started drinking his water, giggling when I whispered in his ear. "You're amazing. I've never seen someone look so involved in something. It looks like you put your entire soul into it." Matt reached back to run his hand through my hair, chuckling softly.

"I do." he whispered, taking another swig of water. Devin cleared his throat, getting Matt's attention.

"How long have you been dating?" He asked, pulling his shirt away from his sweaty chest. Matt looked back at me, looking thoughtful.

"Uhh, I dunno..." I smiled at him, looking over at Devin.

"A month and almost a week." I answered, rocking Matt back and forth slowly. Matt laughed, blushing, and nodded in agreement, laying one arm over mine around his waist.

"Sounds about right." He reached over to shake Devin's leg, not removing his arm from mine. "He even celebrated my birthday, even though we've only been dating a while." I blushed and hid my face against his shoulders.

"Yeah, well... Twenty is a milestone."

"It was still cute." Matt snuggled down into my lap, his eyes on Light and Misa, who had started their routine. I stared at the back of Matt's head for a moment, moving my head to leave a gentle kiss on the nape of his neck, making him laugh quietly. I rested my head on his shoulder and glanced over at Devin, only to find the man staring at me. He was scrutinizing me, sizing me up, and when our eyes met he held my gaze for a long time before looking satisfied and finally smiling at me. I returned the gesture with a shy smile of my own._ Maybe he _does_ like me. _Matt was suddenly whining in complaint, bringing my attention to my boyfriend. "_Again_? But we just did it twice!"

"That's what she said." Devin cut in, getting to his feet. He stood in front of Matt and I, pulling Matt to his reluctant feet. Apparently, they were running through it again. Devin winked at me, pulling Matt to their spot on the practice floor.

"We will practice until it's _perfect_!" Brianna cut in sharply. "We'll run through each piece twice more!" There was a unanimous groan of complaint from all the dancers in the room, only Brianna, L and I staying silent. "Whine any more and it'll be three." The brunette threatened, pushing buttons on the CD player. "Do _not_ disappoint me!"

"Is she always like this?" I whispered to L. He looked over at me, his thumb touching his bottom lip.

"The upcoming competition lands them a spot in Regionals. Once they win there, it goes to Nationals, and then Championships. Their studio ended up in second place last year. This competition is very important to Light-kun, Misa, Brianna and Matt." Light took a seat beside L, drinking from a bottle of water. Even after all the dancing he did, he wasn't even breaking a sweat, and his hair was still perfect. I felt a bit nauseous. _How the fuck does that even work?_

"What have you decided about Mello?" Light asked, surprising me. L surprised me even more with his answer.

"He is genuine in his attitude towards Matt, which is nothing but affectionate and caring. Also, he is jealous of Devin." I blushed deeply.

"W-what? I'm not jealous!"

"He's also ashamed of his jealousy, as he should be." I glared at L, facing forward and trying to get rid of the blush on my face.

"You've embarrassed him." Light remarked. I sighed and swallowed my pride, deciding that gaining these weirdos' friendship was more important.

"So you don't hate me?"

"Hate you?" Light asked. "No, it would be shallow to hate someone you haven't gotten to know yet. We were weary, however."

"Yes, Matt's last affiliation did not work out well for him." L added.

"He was a grade-A asshole." I was slightly shocked to hear Mr. Perfect swear.

"Exhibited displays of controlling and aggressive behavior."

"Ground Matt's confidence down to dust."

"Alienated him from us, those who care about him."

"And led Matt to believe that it was all because he 'cared' about him so much." Light took another drink, and L looked thoughtfully at Matt. I followed his gaze, admiring his fluid movements for a moment.

"That's horrible." I breathed. That statement didn't even begin to sum it up.

"Yes. And it took us quite a while to return him to his usual self. We don't need some other loser to screw him up again. He's under enough stress as it is." Light sighed.

"I really do care about him." I murmured. L and Light turned to stare at me. "It's only been a while since we've met, and this is going to sound cheesy, but it just feels right when I'm around him. Like I've been waiting for him." I started blushing again, biting the inside of my cheek. "S-sorry, I'm not usually like this, and almost never in front of strangers. I'm tough normally, I promise."

"It's alright." L said. "One must always make exceptions for those they care for." Light smiled at L.

Matt's friends were a bit odd, but I could tell that they cared a lot about Matt's well being. Their cold attitude towards me made sense now, and I could feel myself warming up to them already. We chatted a bit while Matt and Devin finished up their dance, my eyes catching Matt's every now and then. I meant what I said. It felt so natural being with him, like it was meant to happen. I didn't have to pretend or try to impress him. He was just himself, and I was myself. I think it was the purest relationship I had ever been in. It was very gratifying, even though we hadn't even had sex yet. But I felt like I didn't need it when I was with Matt. Usually, when I was in a relationship with someone it was just for the sex, but with Matt, I was so interested in him that I didn't need intercourse to keep the spark between us. I could feel it every time he looked at me, or when we had a playful debate, hell, even when we were just communicating through text. Everything about him was intriguing, adorable and addicting. He was definitely one I would be glad to make exceptions for.

Matt plopped down beside me, leaning forward on my leg to talk to Light.

"You and Misa have to go again. Then we're done for the night." Matt straightened up, grinning cutely at me, opening another bottle of water. "I'm gonna wet myself later on, but I'm so damn thirsty." I snorted, leaning back against the wall and regarding him carefully, loving the small flush across his cheeks and the glow of happiness around him. His bangs were sticking to his forehead in some places, but he wasn't really sweating too badly. I reached up to touch his little ponytail, making him jump and turn to smile at me. "Can I help you?" he asked.

"Don't they say you should keep moving after doing copious amounts of exercise?"

"Who's they?" He asked cheekily, taking another drink. I rolled my eyes. Matt smirked at me. "Besides, if that was true, then you wouldn't go to sleep after sex." I felt my face burn up. Matt nearly killed himself laughing, and I hid my face with my hands, bending over to hide behind my hair. Matt pulled on my shoulder, trying to get me to look up.

"What are you chortling about now, Matthew?" Devin asked, sitting on my other side, between L and I. "And why does your boyfriend look like a tomato?" I blushed even more, pulling my shirt up over my face.

"I'm going to die." I mumbled.

"Oh, stop it!" Matt leaned over me, coaxing me out of hiding with a quick peck on the lips. "I just disturbed him with my hidden perviness." Devin chuckled beside me, laying a hand on my shoulder.

"You'll get used to it."

"He's so innocent all the time, and then he just throws these things at me and I never expect it..." I whined, sitting up as my blush lessened. Matt climbed onto my lap, his arms slinging around my neck.

"You like it." He laughed, kissing my cheek. Devin made a gagging noise and tipped his head back to gulp down water. I turned my attention to Light and Misa when Matt and Devin started arguing playfully back and forth, holding Matt closer to me. Okay, I was definitely jealous of Devin, but I was glad he wasn't being as cold as he was before. Light and Misa were doing a very formal looking dance. "Ballroom." Matt murmured in my ear, making me jump. He laughed adorably under his breath. "That's Light's best genre, and they're competing in that section of the competition." Matt's hand trailed across my shoulders, running into my hair and stroking lazily. "Misa's also doing Jazz with me."

"Do I get to see that routine too?" I asked eagerly. Matt laughed and blushed a bit.

"If you'd like to."

Matt got suckered into another run through the piece, and we booked it out of the studio before Brianna could try it again. Devin ducked out with us, lighting up a cigarette outside the building. Matt and I had agreed to coffee earlier, so we bid Devin goodbye and started towards my car. Devin gave me another calculating look before we left, and smiled at Matt as we waved. We stopped by Matt's place so he could take a quick shower. I laid across his love seat (That thing was too small to be a couch), Xiao hanging out on my chest and letting me coo at her, rubbing her ears. I heard the shower turn off and waited a moment to let him dry off before shouting across the apartment.

"Hey, Matt?"

"Just a second!" He yelled back. I heard the bathroom door open, Matt's voice travelling easier. "Don't come over here; I'm still getting dressed, but I can hear you better this way." I laughed to myself.

"Did you and Devin ever have a thing together?" I asked, scratching under the cat's chin to distract myself.

"N-no..." Matt giggled. "He has a kid..."

"So?"

"And a wife..." My eyes widened, a deep blush covering my face.

"Oh... That's embarrassing " Matt laughed lightly.

"Why, were you jealous?" I sighed, stroking Xiao and shaking her fur off my hand.

"Honestly, yes." I could hear him snickering in the bathroom. "I know it's dumb! You don't need to make me feel worse!"

"Aw, don't feel bad. But I assure you, he's very straight. Not all dancers are gay, you know." I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, yeah." Matt came into the living room in white shorts and his black t-shirt with the rainbow on the sleeve, shooing Xiao off of me so he could sneak onto my lap, leaning down to kiss me.

"Hello." I mumbled against his mouth, making him laugh.

"Hey, Jealous-pants." he whispered back, capturing my lips in another kiss. It started out chaste, then became a bit more passionate. We kissed for a while, open mouthed, but not sloppily, Matt trying to slip his tongue into my mouth. I pushed him back by his shoulders, Matt blinking innocently at me through his damp red hair. I moved one hand into his hair, pushing it back behind his ear.

"It's darker when it's wet." I observed. "Burgundy." He smiled, leaning forward again.

"Not Maroon?"

"There _is_ a difference." He giggled and started kissing me again, making my heart race. He adjusted himself above me, moving up so he could reach my mouth better, one of his hands tugging at my hair. I nudged at his hips with my hands, trying to urge him off of me, but he ignored me, tilting his head to deepen the kiss. I pulled away with a gasp, turning my head away from his so I could speak. "A-are we going to get that coffee?" I asked, laughing nervously when Matt kissed down my neck.

"We could stay here..." He trailed off suggestively, nipping at my collarbone. I bit my lip to hold back a moan.

"I know this great smoothie place..." I offered meekly. I felt Matt sigh and he propped himself up on his hands to look at me, giving me a puzzled look.

"That's not gay at all." He commented sarcastically. I laughed breathily.

"Neither is making out with another man." I countered. I watched his lips twist to hide a smile.

"Alright, you win." He complied. He climbed off me, my hands falling from his hips. Matt pulled me off the couch and into his arms, tucking his head against my shoulder. I pulled him closer, wrapping my arms around him. I could allow this contact, at least. I was nervous to go too far with him so soon, after hearing about his ex. I guess it wasn't completely fair to Matt, who didn't know that I knew, but I couldn't help it. I wanted to treat him right. I wanted this relationship to last. And I certainly did _not_ want to hurt him.

...(o⌒．⌒o)...

For me, PDA's were more about possession rather than partnership.

If I held my partner's hand or put my arm around him, it was to make it clear that he belonged to me. I never initiated contact simply for contact, and I was almost always the one to initiate it. So Matt surprised me when he slid his hand into mine.

We were walking from my car to the store we were headed to, and I was waking close to him because it _was_ getting late, and I was protective. He was sneaky, and I doubt I would have felt it if he hadn't intertwined our fingers. He grinned at me when I looked over at him, and continued on as though nothing happened.

But I think I surprised myself the most:

I didn't want to let go.


	7. Let Loose

**Hello!**

**The song used is Supermassive Black Hole by Muse, and the choreography is original. That stuff's hard to come up with. ): If any of you have any suggestions for dances, please PM me! ^-^**

**Also, I got a review asking if the last chapter was filler, so I thought I'd explain. There weren't any answers to questions, and I'm sorry to say there won't really be any here either, but it's because I'm building their relationship before any hard questions are answered. It's coming soon though, I think two chapters and then I'll answer some questions for you! :D**

**Anyways, go forth and read my children! ;P**

* * *

I sighed internally when I walked into the club. It was pretty typical; Low lighting, loud music, smoky air, lots of talking and laughing and... Ugh. I think it's obvious how much I like clubs. I caught sight of Matt, but he was talking to the bartender, so I didn't want to bother him. There were a bunch of tables in front of the stage, and I snagged an empty one, settling against one of the comfortable chairs. A waitress in a cute uniform came over to take my order for a drink, but I told her I was being the designated driver. She recognised me from the first night I met Matt, and started chatting with me a bit. I jumped when a pair of hands dropped over my eyes, a familiar laugh making me smile.

"Guess who?" A voice purred into my ear.

"Hmm, Johnny Depp?" I joked. I was kissed upside down, then Matt took his hands away and slid into the chair beside me, grinning.

"Nope, it's just me." I hummed in approval as I looked him over. He was wearing a black vest with a white button-up shirt underneath that had the sleeves pulled up and a black tie. His pants were black as well, and fitted, complimenting his long legs. His goggles were missing again.

"You're just as hot." Matt giggled and leaned forward to kiss me, both of us startling when the girl standing in front of us squealed loudly.

"Oh my god! You're so cute!" She nearly yelled, hopping on the spot. Matt laughed beside me, kissing my cheek.

"Calm yourself." He told the girl, squeezing my thigh. "The show starts soon, so I have to get ready, but I wanted to say Hello first." He pressed another kiss to my mouth. "Hello." He breathed. I laughed against his lips.

"Hello, gorgeous. Now go put your makeup on." He pursed his lips, smacking my shoulder lightly as he stood up, but there was amusement in his eyes.

"Alright," he sighed, grinning. "I hope you have fun." He waved with his fingers, and I stuck my tongue out at him, making him laugh. He disappeared within the crowd that was gathering around the stage, taking empty seats and talking loudly. I sighed and ordered a pop, the waitress winking at me as she bounced off to the bar.

I chatted idly with a very flamboyant man who sat across from me, plainly flirting with me. He backed off a bit after I told him it was my boyfriend who would be dancing, but still laughed just a bit too loudly and touched my arm more than what was necessary The lights lowered even more, spotlights focusing on the stage. A woman dressed in a very glamorous, sparkly dress walked onto the stage, grabbing a mic. She had long dark hair pulled to one side and curled into long waves.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Drags and Trans, everyone in between..." There was scattered laughter, the woman's bright red lips spreading in a smirk. "Welcome to tonight's show!" Everyone went crazy, and even I let out a whoop. "We're starting out with some comedy, with a solo from our lovely Rickie Ivory-" There were some cheers, the woman pointing in the general direction of the cheering. "You'll enjoy this one." She said. I laughed along with most of the crowd. "After that, we'll be doing something a little bit jazzy, with our newbie, Missy Valentine!" There was less cheering, but I guessed that was because she was new. "Then after a short break, maybe we'll get a little naughty..." She trailed off suggestively, a few murmurs of agreement following her. "So, for all you ladies, and some of you fellas out there, a spicy number featuring our very own cherry, Max Savage!" This time, nearly all the women and quite a few men, including the flamboyant one across from me went wild. I assumed that was Matt, so I cheered too. "And then we'll cool you down with another comedy, featuring our Triple Threat and yours truly!" It sounded like a pretty solid show. Short, but it _was_ the second show of the night. "Alright, folks. Let's give it up for Rickie Ivory!" The crowd cheered excitedly, the woman exiting the stage, bringing the mic with her.

I actually found myself enjoying the show. The comedy act made me laugh my ass off, along with the flamboyant dude (His name was Touta Matsuda. He was in the US for work, and was bi-lingual). Missy's show was actually very good, and she recieved a proper applause. Matsuda went to get another drink, and I snuck over to the dressing room, slipping into the inconspicuous door with the 'Dancers Only' sign.

The room was chaos; men and women were running around half nude, clothes flying around all over the place and people talking over each other. Matt was sitting calmly at his mirror, playing with his hair. He caught my eye through the mirror as I made my way over to him, stepping out of the way of a sparkly-haired man with a bunch of clothes in hand. I leaned down to kiss Matt's cheek, making him smile. He turned around and stepped away from the bench he was sitting on, wrapping his arms around my neck.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" He commented. "You wouldn't believe how many boobs I see here." I watched a shirtless girl zoom by us, headed towards the clothing rack.

"Oh, yes I would." Matt chuckled lightly, running his hands through my hair.

"Do you like the show so far?" He inquired, tilting his head to the side.

"Actually, yes. I think I can appreciate it more now that I know how much work goes into it. And Ricky was hilarious." Matt grinned and looked over at the blonde girl sitting next to us at her own mirror.

"Hey, Halle. My boyfriend likes your routine." The blonde looked up at me and raised her eyebrows, looking tired and unimpressed.

"Thanks."

"Long night?" I asked, feeling empathetic. She snorted, her face softening.

"You bet." The lights flickered, making everyone pause. Once they stopped flickering, everyone went into overdrive, scrambling about double-time.

"That's my que." Matt said simply. He let go of me, turning around to pick up and uncap an eyeliner pencil, pecking me on the cheek as he straightened up. "Go on, love. I'll see you in a few." I grinned at him through the mirror, laughing as he narrowly avoided poking himself in the eye.

When I joined Matsuda again, he was pouting.

"You ditched me." He whined, making me roll my eyes.

"I went to the bathroom, calm down." I flopped into my seat, reclining back. I had snagged the same seat I had the first time I came here, right in front of the stage. The woman from before came on stage and got everyone's attention.

"Welcome back, everyone. The second half of the show is about to begin." She waited patiently for everyone to take their seats, smiling in a friendly way. "Now that we're all settled, please welcome Aurora, Daniel, Stephanie, Kacey and our spirited little rose, Max Savage!" I hadn't noticed because my eyes had been on the woman speaking, but all the dancers had taken their places and were posing. The lights were low, but there was no mistaking the bright red hair on stage. Matt was turned away from us, and had one hand resting on top of his head, the other one across his lower back, his palm facing the audience. The music started, his back up dancers gradually getting out of their poses and dancing around him, Matt shaking his hips to the beat. I sat up in my seat, grinning suddenly.

"Oh, _no way_." I breathed.

_Ooh baby, don't you know I suffer?_

Matt turned around sharply, mouthing the lyrics and running his hands slowly through his hair.

_Oh, baby, can't you hear me moan?_

He bent over slightly, his hands running down his thighs, his eyes wide and lips pouty. I _loved_ this song!

_You caught me under false pretenses,_

His dancers surrounded him, grabbing his arms and legs.

_How long before you let me go?_

He had the cutest expression on his face, looking like a puppy being punished as he struggled against their grasp.

_Ooh, oh. You set my soul alight._

They released him, all of them falling into a sychronised dance, hands above their head and hips swaying.

_Ooh, oh. You set my soul alight._

Matt trailed his hands down the front of his body, his hips still going. The others broke away from him, half coming off stage and half staying on, doing a different dance from the one Matt was doing.

_Ooh, oh. You set my soul alight. (Glaciers melting in the dead of night, and the superstars sucked into the supermassive-)_

He fanned himself delicately, smiling shyly.

_Ooh, oh. You set my soul- (Glaciers melting in the dead of night, and the superstars sucked into the-)_

_T_hey cut themselves off, Matt balling his hands into fists and placing them on his chest.

_I thought I was a fool for no one,_

He made his way down the stairs on the stage, extending his arms and crossing his hands with his index fingers pointed out, looking at me.

_But ooh baby, I'm a fool for you._

He moved sideways, one hand loosening the tie he was wearing, the other pointing at me. I felt myself blush, receiving a wink from Matt.

_You're the queen of the superficial._

He moved on to some woman sitting near me, kneeling on the floor in front of her and making her giggle. He handed his tie to her and gave her his puppy eyes, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips.

_How long before you tell the truth?_

He let go of her hand, still lip-syncing, smiling winningly at her. The two other dancers that had come off stage grabbed his arms and dragged him back on stage.

_Ooh, oh. You set my soul alight._

He started his hip-dance again, using his arms more this time and undoing the buttons of his vest.

_Ooh, oh. You set my soul alight._

With his vest off, he swung it around and tossed it to the crowd, making them go wild.

_Ooh, oh. You set my soul alight. (Glaciers melting in the dead of night, and the superstars sucked into the supermassive-)_

Without his vest on, he just had the loose white button-up on, and he grabbed the collar, holding it away from his neck as he lip-synced, his hand running down his neck.

_Ooh, oh. You set my soul- (Glaciers melting in the dead of night, and the superstars sucked into the-)_

I watched his finger trail down his torso while he danced, stopping at his waistline.

_The supermassive black hole._

He suddenly looked wild and savage, crouching down on the floor and snarling at the audience, dropping up and down to the beat of the song with the other dancers.

_The supermassive black hole!_

He made a wide motion with his hands, then closed his eyes as he drew them back in, keeping his hands close to his waist.

_The supermassive black hole,_

He was on his knees, one hand at his chest, the other reaching forward.

_The supermassive black hole!_

He stood up, the other dancer skittering away from him. It looked like he was yelling the last line, before he turned and stormed through the curtains at the back, disappearing backstage. His backups did an awesome little routine through the instrumental, Matt appearing suddenly at the end of the part with a dramatic fling of the curtains. His shirt was unbuttoned at the top, showing just a peek of his upper chest and his tattoo.

_Glaciers melting in the dead of night, and the superstars sucked into the supermassive-_

He turned to the side, doing a slow body roll and running his hands down his sides, facing front again and rolling his head, his fingers working back up his body and dragging his shirt up a bit.

_Glaciers melting in the dead of night, and the superstars sucked into the supermassive-_

This time he gyrated his hips sensually his arms over his head to allow all eyes to be locked onto his hips, his arms spreading out beside him and coming back slowly, ending up crossed in front of his face.

_Ooh, oh. You set my soul alight. (Glaciers melting in the dead of night, and the superstars sucked into the supermassive-_

He stepped forward a bit, pointing at me again, bringing his hand to his chest and bending over.

_Ooh, oh. You set my soul- (Glaciers melting in the dead of night, and the superstars sucked into the-)_

Matt looked across the audience, raising his hands to hip level and wiggling his fingers, smirking when the crowd went insane. He did what looked like a curtsy, fluttering his eyelashes.

_The supermassive black hole._

His backups joined him again, the five of them gathering near the stairs. Matt looked dangerous again, a finger pressed to his lips as he mouthed the line.

_The supermassive black hole!_

He made a scratching motion towards the crowd, arching his back, the group working their way down the steps.

_The supermassive black hole._

Matt pushed one of the dancer's hands off his shoulder, extending a hand to the audience as the other dancer surrounded him.

_The supermassive black hole!_

Matt ended up on his hands and knees on the floor in front of the stage, shooting us a desperate look, the lights going off with the end of the song. Everyone burst into cheers and applause, cat-calling and whooping loudly. When the lights turned back on, Matt and the other dancers were gone, and the announcer woman was back, looking pleased.

"Give it up for Aurora, Daniel, Stephanie, Kacey and Max!" The audience roared again, and the woman calmed everyone down again. "Alright, now next on stage is..." I tuned her out, grinning and leaning back in my chair, downing what was left of the drink I had from earlier. I wasn't much for clubs, but this was _so_ worth it.

* * *

I was sitting up in my hospital bed, fiddling with a pair of old goggles. They were black around the edges, with orange lenses. Matt had given them to me for good luck. When I needed him most, I pulled them out from their box and held them, running my fingers over the edges of the lenses and tying the elastic over and over again. I sighed to myself, all the memories attached to the goggles washing over me, making me tremble.

"Hey, honey." A voice came from the doorway of my hospital room, my head turning to face it. Nurse Ella was standing there, looking sad. "Your lunch is ready. Do you want to walk to the lunch room or stay here?" I leaned back against my pillows, hugging the goggles to my chest.

"I'll stay here." I replied, looking out the window. It was bright outside, the snow melting away. I missed being outside. As a child, I used to build igloos and make snow angels with my mother, when she would let me. I was feeling rather nostalgic today, I realised, letting out a long sigh.

"Are you okay, honey?" Nurse Ella asked, crossing the room to sit on my bed.

"No." I answered honestly. "I miss Matt." Ella eyed the goggles in my arms, sighing sadly as well.

"Yes, I know." I frowned, looking down at the goggles, then pulling them over my head and letting them dangle around my neck, like Matt used to with his. "Why do you call him that?" She asked, looking honestly curious.

"He liked it." I answered simply. I didn't feel the need to go into detail, to go on about the negative memories he attached to his name. "It was his own." Ella gave me a long look, a concerned one.

"Would you like me to bring your lunch to you, or do you think you're up to getting it yourself?" She asked, looking towards the door. I followed her gaze, sighing. The door seemed awfully far away.

"Do you mind getting it? I can't get up." She looked alarmed, massaging my legs.

"You _can't_? Are you okay? Can you feel your legs? Wiggle your feet for me!" I held back another sigh and wiggled my feet.

"I can feel my legs. I'm just tired." I whispered, pulling the goggles off over my head. Ella breathed a sigh of relief, patting my head.

"Alright, love. I'll get it for you." Usually, I would have swatted her away, but I just didn't have the energy.

"What am I doing?" I mumbled to myself as she left the room, playing with the goggles again. If I held them close enough, I could imagine Matt's smiling eyes behind them. That's what I needed; a smile. A real one. Not these fake, pitiful ones from the medical staff. I just needed _Matt_! "Fuck!" I hissed, bending over and squeezing my eyes shut. I held my breath so I wouldn't cry, lacking a stripe-covered shoulder to bury my woes into. "Fuck..." I whimpered, holding my stomach.

"Are you okay, dear?" Ella asked from the door.

"_NO_!" I snapped. "No, I'm fucking not!" I choked on a sob, clenching my fists as I sat up, looking over at the stunned nurse. "What the _fuck_ would make you think that I'm okay? I'm going to die!" She flinched at the word. _Good, I hope it hurt._ "Probably very soon!" I continued. "I'm going to die slowly, painfully and alone!" I angrily wiped the tears that dared to fall.

"No, sweetheart. You can't think like that. You need to keep fighting-"

"I can't!" I wailed, holding my head. "I just can't do it anymore! I can't do it without him! He's always been here for me!" Nurse Ella made a noise of indecision, sitting beside me and rubbing my back.

"I know it feels that way, but you can do this. You're strong all on your own. Just remember that." I took a deep breath, blinking the tears out of my eyes, swallowing my emotions. When I sat up again, I was the face of calm.

"Thank you." I said to Ella, touching her hand briefly. She smiled at me, touching my cheek.

"There you go. You keep fighting." She told me. I nodded. As soon as she left the room, I pressed a kiss to the nosepiece of the goggles, setting them aside. I grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil from the bedside table and started writing my will.

* * *

I watched him dance from the stool I was sitting on at the bar, watched as he closed his eyes and let himself move to the music, catching the eyes of many men, but never dancing with anyone. He was truly beautiful, the lights in the club making his hair look even brighter, his t-shirt riding up as he brought his hands above his head, laughing along with some lesbian couple dancing near him and clapping his hands. I smiled at him, catching his eye from across the room. He grinned when he caught me staring, beckoning me over with one finger. The girls next to him looked over at me, and I rolled my eyes, finishing the water I had ordered and making my way across the dance floor. I stared down at him when I approached him, Matt standing still and smiling up at me. He reached up with one hand and placed it at the back of my neck, turning me as we started to dance. Matt's arms were slung around my neck, his body brushing mine every now and then as he stepped close and ground against me, then hopped back teasingly and danced on his own. He looked back at me enticingly as he danced in front of me, his eyes dark. I pulled Matt closer, holding him against me, loving the victorious giggle he let out. I danced with him, ignoring when his lips ran up my neck, our bodies moving in perfect harmony.

He insisted we go to a gay club he knew near my apartment, with the excuse that we had hardly spent time together. I couldn't resist his puppy eyes. After a while of dancing with him, I got more comfortable, self conscious at first because I wasn't the best dancer and Matt was a professional. He was leading me very lightly as we danced, and laughing into my ear every now and then. He was also completely smashed, and I had no idea how it happened because he only had a few drinks, but it was slightly hilarious. He nipped lightly at my earlobe, giggling when I spun him around, his arms coming around my neck from where they had been resting on my shoulders.

"Yer the best dancing partner I ever had. An' the sexiest." He slurred at me, making me laugh. He was a cute drunk, and highly complimentary, his accent slowly getting stronger through the night.

"Thank you. I would have to say the same for you." He beamed at me, happily drunk, and leaned in again, his lips brushing my ear as he spoke.

"An' will you show me what kinds 'a dances you do in bed later on?" He ground against me discreetly, his torso pressed flush against mine. I could barely stop myself from laughing. I knew he was trying to seduce me, and it was very cute and slightly sexy because of his tone, but he made no sense whatsoever.

"Babe, that doesn't make any sense." He pouted, pulling back to look at me.

"Makes good sense." He argued. I rolled my eyes and tripped a bit, Matt bracing himself with his hands on my chest, both of us cracking up. "Are you drunk too?" He asked innocently. I snorted.

"No. I'm driving, remember? I'm just not very good at dancing." He looked a little bit more surprised than he should have, making me grin.

"No! You dance well enough. I like dancing with you." He snuggled up to me to prove his point. I rocked us from side-to-side, resting my head against his.

"Are you ready to go home?" I asked him. He whined in complaint, but nodded. I laughed softly, rubbing his back, then guided him off the dance floor, Matt making it difficult by clinging to me. "Matt," I laughed, shivering when he kissed my neck. He giggled again, standing on his own as we exited the club, holding hands as we made our way to my car. He had hitched a ride with a friend of his to his burlesque joint, so he didn't have a ride home.

"Mello," He started, reaching over and playing with my hair while I drove.

"Yes?"

"Yer so good to me..." He murmured. I glanced over at him, finding him staring at me with glazed-over eyes. I grinned, looking away.

"It's hard not to be. You're so sweet." I complimented him, earning myself sloppy kisses on my neck and shoulder, the tank top I was wearing doing nothing to shield me from his sudden affection.

"Yer the sweet one. You taste sweet." I shuddered as his mouth found a particularly sensitive spot on my neck, biting my lip to stop a moan from escaping.

"Matt..." I protested. He pulled away with a cute smirk on his lips.

"Sorry, you're driving." He kept mostly to himself, but kept singing to himself and giggling. I rolled my eyes.

"Alright, you're staying over. I'll drive you to work tomorrow." Matt grinned cheekily.

"So bossy, Mello... I like it." He purred, leaning over to kiss the edge of my ear, his hand resting on my thigh.

"Okay, drunkard. Hands off the driver." I chuckled shakily, thinking of disgusting things to calm myself down. Like grannies in speedos. Just the bottoms. _Ugh, overkill._ I had to stop myself from shuddering in disgust, but I was relieved from the issue in my pants. Matt huffed with his lips still near my ear, making me shiver.

"Okayy." He whined, leaning back into his chair. He played with the hem of the t-shirt he had changed into, shooting small glances at me while I struggled not to look at him. Why was he so fucking hot? We couldn't reach my apartment building fast enough, pulling into my usual parking spot. Matt giggled the whole way up the elevator again, clinging to my shirt and kissing me over and over again, making me laugh and try to push him away. He pouted and complained about how I 'hated him' and stumbled across the elevator to try and talk to the poor man stuck in the elevator with us.

"D'ye see this?" He mumbled, pointing to me. "I don' know why he hates me so much, all I do is love 'im all the time." His accent was very strong, and he was slurring his words, the combination of the two making it almost to the point where you couldn't understand him. I caught him around his waist and tugged him back to me.

"I'm sorry, he's completely shitfaced." I apologised. Matt groaned in annoyance and tucked himself against me, his face against my neck.

"That was my friend, Mel. Was tellin' 'im about you." He looked up at me with glassy eyes, touching my face. "You are so pretty..." I blushed, petting his hair.

"Yeah, sure, Matty. You're not allowed to drink anymore."

"I never drink! Only on 'pecial occa- occas- times. Never, never, nu-uh never."

"Uh-huh." The man across from us covered his mouth to hide his laughter.

"An', and you're so pretty, Mello. And when we get inside, you're gon' make me go in bed, but that's okay 'cause-"

"We're not going to talk about the bed right now, okay?"

"No, I'm not. I swear. You can make me feel nice in bed, yah?" I snorted, holding him to my chest again.

"Yeah, whatever you say." Matt cuddled up to me when the elevator dinged open, the man stepping off.

"Good luck with that." He laughed. I rolled my eyes.

"Thanks." When we got to my floor, I slung him on my back, Matt attacking my neck with kisses. Ms. Merullo was outside her apartment with some late-night garbage, and Matt waved lazily at her while I unlocked my door.

"Hiii~" He sang, embarrassing me and making my neighbor laugh.

"Hey, Matt. You look wasted." She replied cheerily.

"I am. Mello made me stop drining though." He giggled, tugging at the front of my shirt. "Whoops, I meant drinking." He laughed into the back of my head, dangling his arms across my chest. "I only had a few, but tha's enough fer me!"

"Wish me luck!" I called as I entered my apartment.

"Good luck!" Ms. Merullo called back. I carried Matt into my apartment, closing the door behind us. I laid him down on my couch, kicking off my boots and pulling his shoes off. Matt giggled again, making me roll my eyes. He reached out for me, and I leaned over him, getting a hand on my cheek and one in my hair.

"Yer so good to me." He murmured. "How're ye so noice?" I smiled at his drunken confusion. As weird and annoying as Matt was when he was drunk, he really was cute. "Kiss me?" He asked, tilting his head up. I rolled my eyes again and met him halfway, pressing my lips to his. I kept the exchange chaste and brief, Matt giggling happily against my mouth.

"Come on," I whispered as I pulled away, tugging on his hands. "Time for bed." I lifted Matt off my couch, letting him lean on me as we walked to my loft bedroom. He stumbled and laughed, resting his back against the wall outside my room. His arms wound around my waist, pulling me to him. I chuckled, bracing myself with my forearms on either side of Matt's head. "Matt," I laughed. He stared up at me, a small, drunken smile on his lips.

"Be good to me." He whispered. I shivered at the lust darkening his tone.

"Matt- Umph-" I was interrupted as Matt leaned forwards, capturing my mouth with his.

We kissed like we had before, open-mouthed and hesitantly, before liquid courage caught up with my cute ginger and he slipped his tongue into my mouth. Up until that point, I had been trying to squirm out of his tight-armed grip, but kiss Matt and you'll understand why I stopped. Good lord, that man was an incredible kisser. He bit gently at my lip when I tried to pull away, sucking on it afterward and tangling his tongue with mine. His kissing was slow and seductive, and I wanted more. I moaned against his mouth, my legs weakening, one of my hands tangling in his hair to angle his head so I could kiss him deeper. I was pressing up against him by my own free will then, Matt's back arching as I ran my hand down it, hovering at the small of his back. He sucked on my tongue, turning me on and pulling another groan of pleasure from my throat. His tongue pushed back into my mouth, playing with my own before moving on to press against my teeth and explore my mouth. It wasn't a battle with him, but a dance, both of us falling into what we liked naturally. It just so happened that our likes were perfectly in sync. I gasped as I pulled back, licking my lips.

"Mello..." He whined as I kissed down his neck, biting under his jaw lightly. He moaned when I sucked on his neck, biting and running my tongue over the sensitive skin there.

"You like that?" I breathed, making him shiver.

"Mm..." He replied, tilting his head to expose more of his neck to me. I sucked liberally there, his soft voice letting me know he did indeed like it. Matt's cold fingers sneaked under my shirt, running delicately up my sides. I caught his lips with mine again, Matt moaning eagerly into my mouth. His thumbs hooked in the waist of my shorts, my brain crashing back to reality at the slight pressure on my navel. I pulled away from him, panting and quite aroused.

"No..." I breathed. Matt looked confused.

"No?"

"No, Matt, we can't." I confirmed. He looked hurt, his eyes begging me to kiss him again. "You're drunk." I whispered.

"M' not that drunk." I gave him a stern look.

"We're not doing this when you're drunk. You're going to remember our first time." He sighed, disappointed, leaning his head back against the wall. I trailed little butterfly kisses up and down his throat until I calmed down, pulling him into a hug. "Hey," I murmured, Matt looking away from me. "Don't be mad at me." He sighed again and tucked his head against my neck.

"-Not." He said, leaning on me. "Tired." I grinned, supporting him as we made our way up to my bedroom.

"Okay, time for bed then." He flopped onto my bed, yanking his shorts off and curling up in his t-shirt and boxers. I blushed, averting my eyes.

"Mello," He called. Matt rolled onto his back, patting the bed beside him when I didn't move. "C'mere." I smiled shyly and climbed into bed with him. I laid beside him for a moment, keeping to myself. It was our first time sharing a bed, and I wasn't sure of my boundaries yet. He looked over at me, smiling hesitantly, my heart fluttering in response. His drunken personalities interested me, needy and hypersexual one minute, then shy and innocent the next. I inched closer, my arms going around him, leaving soft kisses on his shoulder. He turned in my arms, his head resting on my chest.

We laid there for a while, Matt playing with the sleeve of my t-shirt. I got up to get him a glass of water, hoping to help his future hangover. When I returned, water in hand and a large bowl tucked under my arm, Matt was sitting up, his long, bare legs stretched out in front of him. He was looking a bit lost.

"Where'd ye go?" He asked, his eyes wide in the dark.

"Just to get you water. It might help." I held up the bowl. "And here's in case you ralph." He looked more confused before he grinned, his features softening.

"Oh, okay." He laughed, his eyes crinkling at the edges. I set the bowl down beside the bed, Matt watching me. I glanced at him as I put his water down on the bedside table, sitting on the edge of the bed beside him. I took a breath before looking at him, getting lost in his eyes that looked almost black in the darkness. I leaned forward before I could stop myself, leaving a butterfly kiss on the tip of his nose. Matt sighed softly, his eyes closed. "Why won't ye have sex with me?" He asked, his voice pure curiosity. I felt myself blush, clearing my throat.

"I told you, you're drunk."

"No, but even before. Like when we came back from dance the other day and we were kissing on my couch, you wouldn't have sex with me then, either." I cupped his face in my hands, his eyes opening in surprise.

"I want this to be real." I murmured. "It's not just sex with you, Matt. I really like you." He looked a bit glazed over, his eyebrows furrowing together slightly. "Do you understand?" He looked at me for a moment, one of his hands raising to touch mine.

"Why? I don't understand that part." My eyebrows furrowed.

"Which part? What do you mean?"

"Why do you like me?" I chuckled lightly, kissing his forehead.

"Why wouldn't I?" I answered, kissing his cheek. "We should sleep." I went around my bed and climbed in beside Matt, who was looking even more confused. He was still sitting up, but was looking at me.

"Mello," He said softly. I rolled onto my side, facing him.

"Drink some water. It might help with your hangover tomorrow." He bit his lip, but did as I asked, holding the empty glass with two hands when he was done.

"Mello..." He tried again. I closed my eyes, settling against my pillow.

"Yes?"

"Yer too good to me."

"You keep saying that." I laughed.

"I don't understand. When are ye gonna change?" I opened my eyes, meeting Matt's puzzled gaze.

"I'm not going to change, Matt. This is me." He blinked, as if that was a foreign concept to him. "I care about you. Therefore, I will take care of you. That's how it works." I said.

"But-"

"Yes, sometimes I will get jealous, because you're gorgeous and other men will notice you." Matt blushed, looking away from me. "Sometimes we'll have fights, because we're not perfect, and we'll have our disagreements. Sometimes it will be awkward or difficult, but as long as we're together, I will take care of you and you will take care of me." Matt pulled his knees to his chest, placing his glass on the bedside table. "I'm not going to try to control you, I'm not going to tell you what you can or cannot do, and I'm not going to tell you who you have to be. I'm just going to care for you."

"Because that's how it works?" Matt echoed softly, looking at me over his knees. I smiled.

"Yes, because that's how it works." He rested his chin on his knees, biting his lip.

"I have a headache." He said cutely, bringing his hands up to his head and massaging his temples. I reached for him, and he moved over to me, lying down, curling up against me. I wrapped my arms around him securely, leaving some room for him to wiggle about. Matt sighed against my neck, and I kissed his forehead, smoothing his hair. He hummed happily, kissing my collarbone. "Mello," He stretched his arms out, letting them settle around my waist.

"Yes?" I laughed.

"I like ye more than Mason." I stopped petting his hair.

"Who's Mason?"

"My ex." Matt answered lazily. I tangled my hand in his hair, letting him nuzzle into my neck. He let out a big yawn, his hands grabbing at my shirt. "He was mean." He whispered, pressing closer to me. I furrowed my eyebrows worriedly.

"Do you want to talk about him?" Matt shook his head slightly, his hands tightening on my shirt.

"No, it makes me sad." He whispered. I hugged him tightly, pressing my cheek to his head.

"Okay, then." I replied simply. "We should sleep now." Matt made a soft noise of agreement, one of his long legs sliding on top of mine. I grinned and rolled my eyes.

"Mmn, Mel," I held back my laughter, biting my lip.

"Yes, Matt?"

"No work tomorrow. It's Sunday." He reminded me. _Oh, yeah._

"Lucky you. You can be hungover with me tomorrow then."

"Drank water, I'm safe." I snorted, and Matt laughed tiredly against my neck.

"Sure, sure. Go to sleep, cutie." I held Matt close as he fell asleep, his hands loosening in my shirt, his body slowly relaxing and pressing against mine. I let my lips brush his hair and closed my eyes as I breathed, a soft sigh leaving my lips as I let myself relax.

* * *

From: too_cancerous_for-my-shirt

To: e-MAILmeXD

Subject: Excuse me, Mr. Jeevas.

I finally got myself a better laptop! You always used to complain about the old one. *eyeroll* When you're free, just e-mail me back and we can Skype or something, yeah? :D

Love ya!

* * *

From: too_cancerous_for-my-shirt

To: e-MAILmeXD

Subject: Hey, Listen!

Did my e-mail from the other day get through? The internet is really crappy here, you know how it is in the hospital. Nurse says I've been doing better lately. I gained back some weight, but I'm still feeling kind of crappy. More treatments next week, yay.

Please reply soon, Matty.

Love ya!

* * *

From: too_cancerous_for-my-shirt

To: e-MAILmeXD

Subject: is anyone there?

okay, it must be your internet, because i made nurse check and everything is fine here. please dont be avoiding me. i just want to hear from you. you know i cant do this alone.

please, matt.

love you.

* * *

From: too_cancerous_for-my-shirt

To: e-MAILmeXD

Subject: Hey, You.

Look, I know you're busy and I don't want to impose, but I really need to talk to you. It's been so hard without you here. I feel like I'm withering away. I know it's not your fault, but I really just need to talk to you. I don't know what to do anymore. I'm so lost without you.

I love you.


	8. Tell Me Something

**Hallo! I'm not dead! XD**

**Holy stressful times! Moving twice, working, diagnosis, my mother in the hospital and pure lack of motivation. There's my list of excuses for taking so long! X) I won't whine about it.**

**Please thank Gay Pride ****and my Boo's game of "Tell Me Something" for inspiring this chapter!**

**Also, this chapter really did not want to be written. I tried. I really did. T-T I'm already started on Chapter Nine, so I'll get that done as soon as possible!**

**Good luck, and enjoy! :D**

**Ps. Sorry in advance... You'll see.**

* * *

"Morning, Sunshine." I greeted the sleepy-looking redhead as he stumbled into the kitchen. He rubbed at his temples, running his hands through his messy hair and crossing the room to stand with me. His arms wrapped around my waist, his head resting on my shoulder. He was still in what he was wearing last night, bare legs and all. The sight filled me with a sudden wave of affection, and I wrapped an arm around him, letting him cuddle against me, still warm from sleep.

"Hm, Mornin'. Do you have any painkillers?" I leaned down, and Matt placed a kiss on my cheek, blushing when he pulled away.

"Headache?" I watched with amusement as Matt climbed into one of my kitchen chairs, his feet unable to touch the floor.

"Yeah. It's not too bad, but it still hurts. God, I'm such a lightweight. This is why I don't drink." He complained. I rolled my eyes, smiling to myself as I fetched painkillers and a cup of water. "Thank fucking Christ I don't have work today." I grinned at him from across the room while he took a pill, popping a square of chocolate in my mouth.

"We can take it easy today." Matt smiled gratefully, leaning his head on the table. I started cleaning my kitchen a bit, preparing for breakfast. "You could have slept for longer. I wouldn't have minded."

"Nah, I needed to move. Your bed is really comfy though."

I had awoke to a skinny ginger pressed against my torso, his arms around me and a leg draped over mine. It was like he hadn't moved an inch after he fell asleep. I had rolled onto my back, how I usually slept, and I had to move very slowly so I didn't wake him up. He was so cute when he slept, his expression peaceful and breathing soft. He whined quietly when I climbed out, rolling over into my pillows and sighing. I almost joined him again, but my rumbling stomach convinced me to do otherwise.

"Um, Mello..." Matt began, bringing me into the present. He was playing with his fingers anxiously. I leaned against my counter and looked at him, giving him my full attention. "I- Um, about what I said last night... And what I did..." _So he remembered?_ "I wanted to say that I'm sorry if you were uncomfortable at any point." I snorted and leaned forward to kiss his cheek.

"Don't worry about it." I squeezed his shoulder and made my way over to my fridge. "Are you hungry? I could make you some breakfast." I pulled a carton of juice out of my fridge and poured a glass for each of us.

"Uh, no thank you. I'm not really hungry." When I turned to face him, he was looking down and frowning.

"What's wrong?" I sat down beside him, setting his juice down in front of him.

"W-well..." He sighed, running a finger around the edge of the glass. "I remember talking a little about my ex last night." I nodded.

"Yeah, you mentioned him." Matt made a cute little frustrated noise.

"Shit. Sorry. I know it's not very proper to talk about exes with your current partner." I shrugged.

"Sometimes it's necessary." I comforted him. "Besides, we've been dating long enough that it's okay to talk about past relationships." Matt bit his lip, then nodded.

"Um," I leaned my elbow on the table and propped up my head, looking at Matt attentively. "Mello, I feel like this- our relationship- isn't just some fling..." He glanced up at me, and I smiled both in happiness and reassurance. Matt blushed and grinned a bit before continuing, his voice becoming serious again. "And so I feel compelled to tell you that the last long-term... Thing... I got into wasn't exactly the most pleasant of experiences." He scratched his head nervously, his hand groping at his neck for goggles that weren't hanging there. "Uh... Look, I don't want you to be disappointed in me so I'm just going to tell you flat-out: I'm damaged goods." I felt my eyebrows pull together, my heart clenching out of anger. "I put a lot of trust into Mason, and he hurt me in a way that I couldn't see until it was too late and I couldn't get out by myself." He closed his eyes, sighing. "It was a real disappointment for myself as well; I was weak-"

"Don't say that." I interrupted him. Matt looked over at me in surprise.

"What?"

"You are _not_ damaged goods and you were _not_ weak." I sat up straight, looking him in the eyes. "Being abused doesn't make you weak." Matt flushed and looked away, playing with his fingers on the table top.

"I-"

"I think you were brave to get help." He looked up at me quickly. "You could have let him continue to use you in whatever way he was, but you didn't, and I think that takes some serious balls." Matt breathed a laugh, looking pleased as another soft blush crept to his face.

"Thank you." I kissed his cheek, settling back against my chair again.

"I think a lot of things you've done are admirable." I told him, studying his face. "You left an entire country when you were seventeen and made a living for yourself. That's incredible." Matt frowned.

"My mum and dad separated a while after I left. My mum asked me to come back, but I didn't have enough money at the time." He sighed. "Even when I had collected enough, I still didn't go back. Truth is, I didn't want to." He bit his lip, looking down at the table. "You don't think that's selfish?" He glanced at me, his eyes soft.

"No. The bird has to leave the nest sometime, right?" I replied easily, reaching out to smooth his hair. Matt bit his lip and fixed his hair, not saying anything for a moment. I looked at him, watching his face slowly go from anxious to content, before smiling at him and getting back up to open my fridge again.

"What would you like for breakfast?"

I made cheese omelettes and some coffee, Matt hovering near me. He kept tucking his hair behind his ear and wringing his hands. I passed him a plate with his omelette on it and raised my eyebrows at him.

"What's bugging you?" I asked, leaning against the counter. Matt shuffled slightly, his plate still in his hand. "You can go sit down, you know." Matt blushed and grinned, sitting at my kitchen table and eating his omelette while I made my own. I settled across from him this time, watching him nibble at his fork, pushing his food around every now and then. "Does it not taste good?" _I'm sure I didn't burn it this time._ Matt jumped, shaking his head and smiling.

"No, actually, it's really good." He assured me. "I was just thinking."

"About what?" He chewed at his lip, making my eyes follow the motion.

"How to tell you something without offending you."

"Well..." I paused, thinking my answer over. "Just go for it, and if it does somehow offend me, just reword it." I stared at him while he fidgeted. "Is it about my scar?" Matt looked up, a confused expression on his face.

"No." He bit his lip. "It's... Um, I'm kind of... Glad... That we didn't have sex last night." He blushed, propping his head up with a hand. "Um, not that I didn't want to, but, um, I'm just happy that you respect me enough to want to wait." He coughed awkwardly, looking away from me. "And, uh, I'm sorry for being so needy." I rolled my eyes, finding his leg under the table with my hand.

"Your welcome. And relax. It's fine now." Matt took a tentative bite from his breakfast, glancing up at me shyly. I grinned and continued eating. When we were done, we initiated a staring contest that I won when Matt looked away, blushing. I collected our dishes, loading up the dishwasher. "Tell me something you've never told anyone before." I asked him, not looking up right away. He was quiet for a moment too long, so I straightened up to look at him, finding his face pale and eyebrows furrowed together in worry. "Matt?" He startled a bit, blinking up at me. "Are you okay?"

"H-huh? Yeah..." He laughed nervously. "Uh, something I've never told anyone..." He murmured to himself. He grinned suddenly, looking sheepish. "I can't snap my fingers." My eyebrows went up.

"What?! Haven't you done it in dances?"

"What do you think the music is for?" I smiled at him while he played with his hands, amused.

"Show me." He rubbed his middle finger and thumb from his right hand together quickly, producing a muffled noise and sounded a bit painful. "See? Can't do it." I laughed, enthralled. I hadn't known someone who was unable to snap their fingers since I was six.

"Try the other hand." Matt positioned his left hand awkwardly, making a face.

"That's even worse." I chuckled and snapped my fingers on both hands, making Matt pout. "Now you tell me something you've never told anyone." I bit my lip as I thought, leaning forward to kiss Matt quickly.

"I'm terrified of centipedes." I admitted. Matt snorted, then covered his mouth.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh." I pouted jokingly at him. "But you're bigger than them!"

"They're so gross and crawly and-ugh. So gross." Matt giggled and I smiled, glad to have happy-Matt back. "You go." He thought for a moment, looking off to the side.

"Oh! During my sister's first break up, I sat in her room with her for four hours under a blanket, eating shitty strawberry ice cream and listening to Avril Lavigne." He smirked evilly. "And then I went to his house and beat him up." I snorted, getting the juice I had just started to drink up my nose.

"Oh, god, that burns. _You_ beat someone up?" Matt laughed and handed me a paper towel, nodding.

"Scottish pride, man. Don't fuck with our little girls; we'll end your life." I raised my eyebrows at him, wiping at my nose and briefly over my face to hide my embarrassment.

"Alright then. I'll keep that in mind." I folded the paper towel up and threw it out, letting Matt take a sip of juice before speaking. "I gave my first blowjob to my best friend's older brother while the three of us were sharing a bed." Matt blinked at me before blushing.

"That's... Kinda hot." I laughed, shaking my head.

"It was terrifying! I thought my friend was going to wake up because his brother kept moaning. Apparently I was alright, though." Matt half-smiled, finishing his food before he spoke.

"As long as we're on the topic of sex..." I blushed, pulling a full smile from his lips. "I've only reached climax while having sex with someone twice." I stared at him for a moment, completely flabbergasted.

"_Excuse_ me? What? How is that even possible?" I stuttered, not even able to consider the notion. Matt blushed.

"I dunno... I guess the guys I sleep with aren't the type to finish me off once they come. You know the feeling where one more touch will get you off?" I nodded, knowing the feeling well. "That's usually where I get, but by then they're ready to leave or go to sleep. I just finish myself." I shook my head in disbelief.

"You don't even ask them? Or, hell, _demand_ it? I should think you deserve it!" Matt shrugged.

"It's not that big of a deal. I can take care of myself." I blinked slowly.

"But... Sex is about taking care of _each other._ I never feel satisfied unless my partner comes, too." Matt sighed, shrugging.

"Your partners were lucky, then." We fell into a semi-awkward silence after that, Matt finishing his drink and sliding out of the stool. I turned to watch him struggle with the dishwasher before taking pity on him, finishing my own juice and loading more dishes from the sink, filling the soap and starting the machine slowly so Matt could take mental notes.

I then faced him and we looked at each other for a minute. I studied his tired features: his soft eyes and messy hair. I tilted my head and grinned, making him smile back at me. Pleased that there was a smile on his face, I pulled him into my living room and sat him down on the couch.

"Feel like snuggling and watching a movie with me?" I asked. Matt laughed and nodded.

"Don't mind my indecency." He joked, pulling a pillow onto his lap and holding it to his chest. I waved a hand dismissively.

"It's just us. Besides, I kind of like that look." I winked at him and watched gleefully as a blush spread across his cheeks. He lifted a hand and beckoned me with one finger, tossing the pillow to the side when I started to climb onto his lap. He brought his arms around me, his hands holding my waist as I straddled his hips, bracing my hands on the back of the couch. I wiggled a bit, getting comfy, before tangling my hands in Matt's hair.

"You do that a lot." Matt observed with a laugh, tilting his head when I kissed his jaw.

"I may or may not have an addiction to your hair." I answered, my lips brushing down his neck. I felt him shiver underneath me. "It's so soft. I don't know what you put in your hair to make it like that, but it definitely works. And I like the length." Matt's hands slid lower on my waist, holding my hips.

"It used to be shorter, but I didn't like it. I always liked my hair longer. Not too long, but..." He trailed off, looking up at me. "You have gorgeous eyes." I blushed, looking away quickly.

"Says you." I mumbled in embarrassment, making Matt laugh and kiss my cheek. I got off of him and sat beside him, draping my arm across the back of the couch behind his head. We ended up watching The Producers, but I don't think either of us were paying attention. I played with Matt's hair absently as we watched the movie, letting him cuddle against me and reach up to touch my hand. We ended up holding hands, my hand covering his with my palm pressed to the back of his hand as our fingers intertwined. My thumb stroked his, moving up and down the digit, making little circles around his knuckle, until Matt sighed and leaned his head back.

"Mello," he said softly, his breath moving my hair.

"Yes?" I answered, moving my head back to look at him.

"I have a competition coming up..." I nodded.

"Mmm-hmm. Light and L told me."

"Oh. Well... Did you want to come watch? I mean, it might be a bit boring, but they have free cookies afterwards, and-" I cut him off with a chuckle, ruffling his hair.

"I would love to come." Matt practically beamed, squirming happily.

"Yeah, okay." He mumbled. We watched the movie for a second before Matt suddenly sat up to look at me properly. "Wait, you had an actual _conversation_ with them? And you're still here?" I laughed loudly at that. Matt's surprised expression melted into a smile. "I was being serious, you know."

"I know, that's what makes it funnier!" I pulled him closer, squeezing him for a moment. "Hey, what happened with Misa and Light anyways?" He gave me a weird look. "Sorry, that just popped into my head. You've mentioned it before, but not in detail." Matt sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Well..." He rubbed his eyes cutely, leaning into me more. "It's sort of complicated, so bear with me..." I wrapped my arm around his waist. "Okay, so, When I first moved here, I met up with L and we roomed for a bit before I got a second job and could afford to get my own place. We were pretty close friends." I nodded. "Misa, Light and I met when I started working at the Studio. We became friends when Misa and I were paired up for my first competition with that studio. Misa had been dating Light for a few months by then." That explained Misa's jealousy. "They dated for about a year before L came to support me at the competition and he and Light got talking. It took a while for Light to figure himself out. Getting physical had always been an issue for him when he was with Misa, but things suddenly got a lot easier as long as he closed his eyes and imagined L." I flushed a bit. That was something I never had to go through. I had kind of always known I liked boys. "It went on like that for a while. Light and I bonded a lot during that time. I was the first person he came out to. We even hit up a few gay bars together. It was a lot of fun." Matt nudged me when he saw my expression. "I never slept with him; he's not my type. Jealous-pants."

"Sorry." I kissed his head quickly. "Continue." Matt grinned and leaned his head against me.

"Eventually, it was getting too hard for Light to hide his crush and his sexuality. He broke up with Misa." Matt made a face at the memory. "It was messy. Misa was devastated and she wanted me to take her side, but I agreed with Light. That was interesting." He sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I think she was okay with it once she found out that Light was gay, but it doesn't mean she wasn't hurt. She knew he needed to do it though, for his own well being. Anyways, I convinced Light to confess to L maybe three months after the break up. Light didn't know that L had been telling me all about his feelings for Light right since the first time they met. Needless to say, they started their relationship with a lot of love between them." I grinned as Matt smiled happily. "I'm happy for them." I stroked a hand through his hair and kissed his temple.

"They're a cute couple. They seem very in tune with each other." Matt hummed in agreement, opening his mouth to say something else, when a peppy 8-bit sounding tune floated down from my room.

"Shit, that's my phone." Matt murmured, looking annoyed. I paused the movie we hadn't been watching, letting go of Matt so he could get his phone. I heard him swear while he looked for his phone, turning to watch him walk down the stairs with his phone to his ear. "Hello?" He asked, looking confused. "Misa? Whose phone are you calling from?" He paused, looking at me, confusion growing on his face. "_Jacky?_ Who the fu- oh, yep. I remember." He smirked suddenly. "Now you're on a nick name basis because he got in your pants." He settled beside me, letting me hold his hand again. "Oh,_ excuse_ me, princess." He bit his tongue while smiling. "Yes I _will_ quote that awful show. Now what the fuck do you want? You interrupted Mello and I." His face went bright red at her response. "Misa! That's not appropriate!" He finally looked at me, rolling his eyes and fighting a blush. "Stop it! What is it?" He made an exasperated face, reaching over to touch my face as he stared at me. "You know where it is; I didn't move it. There's a new one in my medicine cabinet." He leaned forward to kiss me softly, making my heart race at the unexpected contact. He groaned in annoyance when he pulled back, still looking into my eyes. "Why don't you just buy your own eyeliner?" He whined. I snorted before I could stop myself. "Now Mello is laughing at me!"

"Is she seriously borrowing eyeliner from you? I thought you said you didn't wear makeup?" Matt covered the receiver with his hand.

"I don't. It's for work. But there's nothing wrong with boys who do." I shrugged.

"No, you're right. You just don't need it." I traced his cheekbone. "You're pretty enough." Matt blushed, then leaned forward to kiss me again. He spoke into the phone when he pulled back.

"Just take one from my cabinet. And leave my lube alone this time. Talk later; this man needs to be snogged." He hung up and tossed his phone beside him on the couch, climbing onto my lap and holding my head as he kissed me.

"What-" I was interrupted by another kiss. "What did you mean by this time and-" Yet another kiss, longer this time, with Matt's tongue touching my bottom lip. "And what the fuck does 'snogged' mean?" Matt pulled away, laughing.

"Didn't you read Harry Potter? Snogging is the equivalent of American making out. And she stole my lube once. I don't want to know what she used it for. I let her keep it." I smiled, holding his face in return, kissing him gently.

"That's disturbing." I murmured. "And you can snog me anytime." Matt laughed and I toppled him over, leaning over him on my elbows, needing to kiss that beautiful smile. He moaned quietly as I kissed him thoroughly, until he was flushed and panting and I was seeing stars.

I loved the little sounds he made... Little whimpers of appreciation that just made me want to kiss him harder. He grabbed at me, and I played with his hair. Eventually, I slowed our kiss down, our mouths meeting softer than before, Matt sucking on my tongue to make up for biting me and me licking at his lip as an apology for my own bites. He sighed through his nose and we tilted our heads in sync, changing the angle. His hands came up from where they had rested on my ass, cupping my face instead. I broke the kiss to breathe, gazing down at his soft, wonderfully green eyes, speaking breathlessly against his lips.

"Tell me... Something you've never told anyone before." I panted. Matt was breathing just as heavily, reaching up to peck at my mouth again.

"I've never been kissed like that." He whispered. We looked at each other for a moment, one that felt much too long, before kissing each other again, this time even wilder than before.

_Good god, I think I'm falling in love..._

(^_-)

* * *

**NEXT CHAPTER:**

_"I see." Matt said, his voice detached and emotionless. "What does that mean then?"_

_"What does what mean?" He let out a short sigh, his eyes dead as he met my gaze._

_"Are you going to kill me?"_


End file.
